Lasius flavus workers are a beautiful orange colour, they tend to be shyer than Lasius niger, the queen is a light brown with an orange abdomen they are an excellent starter species. Lasius flavus can have two or more queens and can have more than 40,000 workers. In the wild they usually spend most of their time underground harvesting root aphids honey dew. However, they are a lot more active in captivity.
Lasius flavus also known as the “yellow meadow ant” is a close cousin of Lasius niger. They usually build mounded nest underground in clear open species like lawns.
Laisus flavus is the second most abundant species within the UK and they spend most of their time nesting underground and cultivating root aphids. Their nest exposes the roots of plants which allows them to cultivate in a relatively safe environment similar to their cousins Lasius niger who farm above ground.
They tend to be fairly docile and I would consider them s shy version of Lasius niger but in captivity they will be more active due to them not farming root aphids but feeding my insect protein and liquids.
Keeping difficulty: Very easy (beginner friendly)
Colony form: mostly monogyn sometimes polygyn
Queen size: 7-8mm
Workers size: 2-5 mm yellow/orange,
Food: honey water and insects
Temp: 18-26°C
Humidity: 50-60%
Founding: Claustral without feeding
Colony size: 1-40,000 workers
Hibernation: November until end of February at 15°C
What you will get in addition to your colony:
1x protein shake
1x pipette
1x care sheet which can be found on our care-sheet page
Live arrival guarantee:
We guarantee the live arrival of your Queen they come well packed in our jiffy bags which have two-sided padding as well as an additional layer of bubble wrap around our test tubes. We are the only company in the United Kingdom to offer our live arrival guarantee of your queen as well as an additional 14 days guarantee if the colony if kept in the original test tube for all our European species. Why do we do this? We are confident with our colony’s health and our packaging process as well as our care guides, we also believe in our customers and making sure they have a good ant keeping experience.
Be aware of sellers only using the Live arrival guarantee and not the 14-day additional warranty on European ant species it might be slightly cheaper but could end up paying more in the long run, also all our products are sold as starter kits including food and a pipette.
We do require photographic evidence of the queen in the original test tube for validating the guarantee once outside the test tube and in a nest the environment is outside of our control.
It is illegal to release non-native species of ants into the wild and could damage the local ecosystem so bare this in mind we have a duty to our environment.
Live arrival guarantee we ensure the live arrival of the queen only upon delivery contact us within 24-48 hours of receiving the Queen dead on arrival with a picture of the dead queen and the original workers. DO NOT TRANSFER THE DEAD QUEEN OR WORKERS TO A NEST AS THIS VOIDS YOUR WARRNTY. For our additional 14-day guarantee for European species the Queen and workers must be kept in the original test tube sealed with the cotton and care sheet instructions followed if you want to keep this additional guarantee do not transfer to a nest or your warranty is VOIDED (we recommend you keep the 14-day warranty).
We have no control over the environment outside the test tube and have no influence in the conditions the responsibility once placed outside the test tube within the 14-day period the responsibility is with the buyer. 9 times out of 10 colonies die in the nest due to lack of water access, food, temperature, oxygen or stress due to vibrations or exposure to excess light. If your colony does fail inside a nest contact us, we can advise what went wrong but it is up to you to buy another ant colony, you will succeed but sometimes it does not work the first time. Research is key to success with ant keeping and follow our guides.
