Myrmica rubra is known as the common fire ant or European fire ant. In some places such as North America and Asia they have been considered an invasive species.
They tend to have a high level of aggression towards there pray which is very interesting for observation in how they interact with their prey and their recruitment process. They also carry a potent sting which feels like being stung by a stinging nettle.
 
In the wild they tend to have many queens in a nest and like to nest in areas with high humidity, usually found in places like meadows or mossy areas and also like to farm aphids similar to root aphids.  Moss is very good to use in the nest areas for this species as they do like to nest in it.
Myrmica rubra are a popular species and do sell out fast.
 
The following reason why we don’t often stock them is because good quality stock is hard to come by of this species as around 99 percent of colonies are dug up from the wild on sale on websites this means the colonies collapse as the workers you get are old and don’t live long and colonies die off. We only stock colonies not wild caught with brood and workers so they don’t suffer from colony collapse and failure so its more ethical. We only pursue sourcing the best quality of this species which takes time.
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Keeping difficulty: Easy (Good for a keeper who already has kept one species of ant or more)
Colony form: Polygyne
Queen size: 5-7mm/ dark red
Workers size: 4-6/ dark red/brown orange
Food: honey water and insects
Temp: 18-28°C
Humidity: 50-80%
Founding: semi-claustral with feeding
Colony size: 1-20,000 workers
Hibernation: October until end of March at 5 - 8°C ​
 
You will recieve:
1x colony which you selected
1xprotein shake
1x pipette 
 
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.