The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Hi, I'm planning to start a camponotus japonicus colony, and I'd like to know how many carpenter ants a single hybrid nest small can hold. Thanks!!

More Hanna few I have Camponotus pennsylvanicus with about 13 workers and a small brood growing and they are only occupying one little corner in the nest. Camponotus are also slow growing so they won't need as much room as fast as some other species do.

With Camponotus you will not need a nest for at least a few months. Remember, 20-50 worker is formicarium time and most Camponotus need about a year to reach that size (except smaller ones like C. nicobarensis, they can do it in about half a year).
I recommend getting some larger test tubes, 30x200mm (with an addition small cotton plug in the middle) works well for my Campos.



If you put them into a formicarium to early you risk them using the nearby chambers as waste depots and it's gonna be a pain to clean up the mess they're making there (many other ant species would also dry out and die in a too big nest but Camponotus are dry-loving and can develop fine at room humidity as long as they have direct access to a water source).

the camponotus are a slow growing group af ants you shouldn't need a foracarum for a couple of months, you might whant a port for a little more room and access to multiple water test tubes.

My Camponotus hyatti colony's queen was caught in April this year and now they're at 30 workers. I could technically move them into a small Camponotus hybrid nest right now but it's easier to keep them in a test tube attached to a portal for now. If you move a colony that's too small into a nest, sometimes they'll end up using empty parts of the nest to sore trash then mold starts building up inside and you can't do anything about it.