Myrmecocystus navajo – Honeypot Ant
Bring the beauty of the desert into your collection with Myrmecocystus navajo, one of the most stunning honeypot ant species. Known for their iconic repletes—workers that store nectar and swell into golden, jewel-like droplets—these ants are a favourite among keepers for their unique appearance and fascinating behaviour.
 
They are like Myrmecocystus mexicanus but are a smaller species by a few milli meters.
Key Features:
Native to the American Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah).
Famous for their living food storage system: repletes hang from the nest ceiling, glowing amber like beads of honey.
Active foragers that thrive on sugary foods such as nectar, honey, and sugar water.
A truly eye-catching display species, perfect for ant enthusiasts who want something rare and unusual.
Care Notes:
Prefers warm, dry conditions like its desert habitat.
Colonies grow steadily but are not aggressive, making them excellent for observation.
 
Why Choose Myrmecocystus navajo?
If you’re looking for a colony that combines beauty, rarity, and natural wonder, this honeypot ant is an outstanding choice. Few ant species showcase nature’s ingenuity quite like Myrmecocystus navajo.
 
Keeping difficulty: Advanced (Kept at least 1 or more Exotic species)
 
Colonyform: Monogyne
Queen size: 10-13mm
Worker’s size: 3-8mm
Food: honey water and insects
Temp: 20-28°C
Humidity: 60-80%
Founding: claustral without feeding
Colonysize: 1-4000 workers
Hibernation: 6–8-week disapause in November
You will receive:
1x queen mated queen with eggs/brood or workers depending on your selection
 
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-day 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 WARRANTY. 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.