Greetings AC Family,

This week we take an intimate look at the ever diverse Harvester Ants for Part 2 of our two part Thanksgiving Special. We also announce our up coming Christmas Sale and Ant Keeping Beginner Promo! Hope you enjoy this week’s video!

A Bearded Ant?!!! | Harvester Ants (Thanksgiving Special Part 2)

Greetings AC Family and a happy belated Thanksgiving to all of our AC family from the U.S.

Welcome back for Part 2 of our two-part Thanksgiving Day Special, and I truly hope you enjoyed your fill of turkey and stuffing the other night.

Last week, we took a look at the mind-blowing world of Leaf Cutter ants, who tend their lush fungus gardens underground, and this week we explore some truly amazing ants that are pretty resourceful. They work hard to harvest their food when it’s available and store their harvest in great underground chambers.

Today, we dive into the lives of the ever-diverse Harvester Ants, the secret collectors of the ant world. We also reveal the grand winner of our $500 gift card Black Friday giveaway, the AntsCanada BLACK FRIDAY GIVEAWAY!!! Plus, we have a special announcement for Christmas. Yes, I can’t wait! So, stay tuned until the end, ladies and gentlemen.

Let’s caravan deep below ground level and discover the intriguing world of Harvester Ants, here at the AntsCanada Ant Channel!

(Music Plays)

Okay, so we’re back here in LA, drooling over our GAN Farmer Drew’s collection here. Okay, fine, I was drooling over his collection. He says he currently owns 100 ant colonies but has owned up to 400 colonies at one time in the past.

Look at this cabinet of ants – doesn’t that just look amazing? For an ant keeper, this is like looking at a vault full of golden treasures. It’s no surprise that he is the top-earning GAN farmer of our GAN project in the entire world.

Drew was kind enough to let us take a look at his various personal colonies, and I was particularly interested in his amazing Harvester Ant collection. Now, for those who are new to Harvester Ants, Harvester Ant is a generic name for a variety of ant species in genera that collect seeds. They live in arid habitats and store the seeds in underground granaries, which are useful to them during droughts when water is scarce. They also obtain water from metabolizing fats in the seeds they collect.

I was surprised to discover how many different Harvester Ant species there are and how many Drew owns. He says he currently owns 9 different Harvester Ant species, all native to California. In this video, we’ll take a look at 5 species belonging to three different genera. I will also include hidden videos of each colony we look at, so feel free to click on the i-cards as they pop up.

Let’s start with these hard-working girls, native to the southwestern U.S. These are Rough Harvester Ants, known scientifically as Pogonomyrmex rugosus. These ants are so cool! They are a mature 3-year colony. Look at them, they’re just non-stop working. They’re pretty amazing, right?

This Pogonomyrmex rugosus colony is housed in a simple aquarium filled with digging medium, with a smaller aquarium placed inside to force the ants to dig closer to the glass. Harvester Ants dig impressive burrows deep into the ground. They are actually very important to their ecosystems because they help till and aerate the soil.

Where they’re from, temperatures can be scorching hot and extremely dry, so the deeper their subterranean caverns go, the better. It stays cooler and much more damp deep in the ground.

Alright, here’s something cool – a quick ant history lesson. For many decades, Uncle Milton Industries, Inc., a company founded in California in the 1950s by my idol, the late Milton Levine, released the famous plastic Uncle Milton ant farm. This ant farm allowed owners to mail in a coupon included in every package, which would get them 20 to 25 worker ants sent by mail to fill the ant farm.

My very first ant farm as a kid was an Uncle Milton ant farm. When I received my ants in the mail, all the way in Toronto, well… they were all dead upon arrival. It’s okay, I got over it. But what’s interesting is that the ants Uncle Milton Industries shipped out were Harvester Ants!

Did any of you guys have one of these as a kid? Remember reading the warning label to not touch the ants because they sting? Pogonomyrmex ants certainly do have stingers. Many hardcore ant keepers, like myself, share this same story. If it weren’t for these Uncle Milton ant farms, I would never have gone on to seek other ant farm options and wander into the world of pro ant keeping, eventually leading me to open AntsCanada.com.

So, to Uncle Milton Industries, I pay all my respect, as they are pioneers of the ant-keeping hobby. As the inventor of the first ant farm, Milton Levine will always be the godfather of ant keeping.

Which brings us back to this thriving Harvester Ant colony. This huge colony was raised from just a single queen. If you look closely, you’ll see a chamber full of pupae. This species creates naked pupae, meaning they don’t have a silk outer casing like some ants do. You’ll notice that some of the pupae are pale orange—these are close to eclosing, which means adult workers will be emerging soon.

Harvester Ants are digging machines, and their bodies are perfectly suited for their lifestyle. Now, another quick ant history lesson: these ants have a unique structure called a psammophore, a basket of long hairs on the underside of the ants’ heads that looks like a beard! Austrian taxonomist Gustav Mayr saw this psammophore and named the genus Pogonomyrmex, which means “bearded ant.” This basket of hairs helps the ants carry sand grains and seeds. Could you imagine if humans could use their beards to carry things?

Oh, and by the way, it’s the females that have this beard.

Another cool thing about this species of Harvester Ant is the way they settle territorial disputes with neighboring colonies. They engage in wrestling matches—yes, you heard that right! In this photo taken in Tucson, Arizona, two Rough Harvester Ants from neighboring nests engage in a wrestling match, where they push and shove each other in a display of force but don’t actually harm each other. It’s thought that these mock battles help colonies gather information about their neighbors’ strength, which helps settle territorial borders without loss of life.

Imagine if humans solved territorial disputes this way—in a wrestling ring!

Okay, here’s another mind-blowing fact. Time for Ant History Lesson #3!

Ant History Lesson #3: This species is involved in one of the strangest ant phenomena ever recorded—a hybrid zone between Pogonomyrmex rugosus and another species, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. Apparently, these two species hybridized in their ancient past, leading to a pair of genetically complex daughter lineages that continually need to crossbreed with each other to produce worker ants.

The queens and males remain genetically separate. Young queens need to mate with their own species to produce more queens and males. However, to produce worker ants, they need to mate with the other species during the same nuptial flight. This means that in every nuptial flight, Pogonomyrmex rugosus and Pogonomyrmex barbatus queens must mate with their own species to produce alates, but they must also mate with males from the other species to produce workers. Isn’t that weird?

In other words, if you placed all the Pogonomyrmex rugosus ants in the world on one island and all the Pogonomyrmex barbatus ants on another island, both species would be incapable of producing their own workers, which means both species would die. They need each other to survive. Isn’t that mind-blowing, guys? Could you imagine if the continuation of the human species depended on our mating with a closely related species? So strange!

Drew also has some other Pogonomyrmex species, like the smaller yet charming Pogonomyrmex californicus in a dirt setup sandwiched between two panes of glass and Pogonomyrmex magnacanthus, a small species with big eyes, in a dirtless setup. He also has several other Pogonomyrmex colonies, but we’d be here all day if we covered them all.

So, let’s move on to a different genus of Harvester Ants: Novomessor cockerelli. Look at how cool they look! I love how large and leggy they are. They collect seeds, drink honey water, and accept insects. They’re kept in a neat homemade setup made of resin and ceramic.

Now, check out these Veromessor pergandei. For those of you in Europe who keep Messor ants, it was originally thought that Veromessor pergandei were related to Messor, but DNA tests showed they aren’t related—they just evolved similarly. These ants are polymorphic, which means they have various sizes of workers, from tiny minors to huge supermajors. They are just spectacular!

Alright, if you’re interested in keeping Harvester Ants, here’s what you need to know. First, let’s look at their diet. Of course, you need to offer them various kinds of seeds, but you should also supplement their diet with insects, depending on the species, and sweets. A varied diet is key!

Second, let’s look at their formicarium. You can offer Harvester Ants a formicarium that allows for digging, like in this impressive setup from our AntsCanada partner in Utah, Brian, who owns a very impressive Pogonomyrmex occidentalis colony housed in an upright dirt nest setup made of wood and two panes of plastic attached to AC outworlds. Just a reminder: ants will establish graveyard sites and leave husks from the seeds in their outworld, so you’ll need to clean that up regularly.

Alternatively, you can house Harvester Ants in a formicarium that doesn’t have digging medium at all, like in Drew’s setups here. If it’s your first time housing Harvester Ants and you want to eliminate the guesswork, simply visit our shop, click the tab for Pogonomyrmex, and you’ll see all the products we recommend for Harvester Ants. I’ll put a link in the description box. I personally highly recommend any of our Omninest series for formicariums, as seen here in this video sent in by Ricardo Blackwood of his Messor barbarus colony or a Pogonomyrmex hybrid nest, which is made specifically for Harvester Ants. If you want to see them dig, you can even add digging medium into the setup.

One thing to note: Harvester Ants do not do well in moist nests, as moist nests would cause their stored seeds to germinate, which isn’t desirable.

Harvester Ant queens can be found from March through October, depending on the species. Veromessor queens can be found as early as February. Drew says the easiest way to catch Harvester Ants is to dig out the dealates that have freshly dug their founding burrows after a nuptial flight. These are what the founding burrows look like. You can also find them wandering above ground, and they typically fly after desert thunderstorms.

If you happen to live in the southern U.S., you can visit our GAN project page on our website, under the tab “Queen Ants for Sale,” to see if we have a GAN farmer in your state selling young colonies of Harvester Ants like Drew’s. His colonies range from $20 to $60 USD, depending on colony size, rarity, and difficulty in rearing. He’s also sold mature colonies of hundreds or even thousands of workers for $100 to $200.

Just a note: in the U.S., it is illegal to transport ant colonies with a queen across state lines, so our GAN farmers can only sell ants to you if you’re from their state, and you’ll need to pick up the ants in person, as we do not allow mailing of live ant colonies.

So, there you have it, AC Family! Harvester Ants are some pretty amazing ants, wouldn’t you say?

I hope you enjoyed this Part 2 episode of our Thanksgiving series and get the chance to keep Harvester Ants if they’re from your area.

Alright, AC Family, you’ve been asking for an update on them non-stop, and next week, we finally revisit the Fire Nation! So many of you have been asking what they’re up to, and boy, do I have a shocking video for you. You’ll be on the edge of your seats as we watch a crazy natural disaster befall the Fire Nation. You won’t want to miss it, so be sure to tune in next Saturday to catch every intense moment. Until then, AC Family, it’s Ant Love forever! ❤️

And of course, we can’t end the video without announcing our AC Question of the Week for our AC Grand Black Friday Giveaway!

So, here we go. Last week, we asked, “What is the name of a specialized bacteria found on the bodies of Leaf Cutter Ants?” Congratulations to Kayla M., who correctly answered Actinomyces! We would have accepted a broad array of answers because there are several types of bacteria in the Actinomyces category, but huge congratulations to Kayla M.! You just won a $500 USD gift card to AntsCanada.com! Enjoy your new ant products!

Now, for this week’s Question of the Week, we ask, “What is the name of the anatomical structure found on Harvester Ants that inspired Austrian taxonomist Gustav Mayr to come up with the name Pogonomyrmex?” Leave your answer in the comments section, and you could win a free AC T-shirt, which will be coming to the store very soon—meaning you’ll get to wear one before it’s officially released!

Okay, and now it’s time for an exciting announcement!

For those of you who are feeling down because you didn’t win this time around, don’t worry! If you’re a beginner ant keeper, or if you’ve always wanted to own an AntsCanada formicarium, now is the perfect time to make that dream a reality! AntsCanada.com is having a huge Christmas sale, along with a beginner’s promo this year!

I’m super excited to announce that our Christmas sale includes 20% off on all Omninest products, including our Omninest All-You-Need Starter Kit and our AC Outworlds. And on top of that, we have an ant-keeping beginner’s promo!

Check it out: if you order an Omninest All-You-Need Starter Gear Pack, just add our Ultimate Ant-Keeping Handbook eBook to your shopping cart, and we’ll give it to you absolutely FREE using the coupon code BEGINNER.

The Omninest All-You-Need Starter Gear Pack is a fantastic setup, especially if you’re a beginner. It contains absolutely everything you need, from the moment you catch a queen to the time your colony reaches maturity. And the Ant-Keeping Handbook will ensure you’re a pro by the time you finish reading it!

Another great thing: if you’re worried about getting your order before Christmas, don’t fret! We’ll also be selling digital gift cards, which you can give to your recipient, and he or she can choose their own products from the shop.

This coming year is the best time to start a new hobby, and based on my personal observation, the ant-keeping hobby has never been as big as it is now! So if you’re looking for a unique, educational, and fulfilling gift idea, come and keep ants with me! Order a professional ant setup this Christmas from our shop, and we can ant-keep together, guys! This channel, along with our very helpful team, will be with you every step of the way to ensure an amazing ant-keeping experience.

Because, well, you’re all AC Family! ❤️

Mark your calendars, guys—the AC Christmas Sale and our Ant-Keeping Beginner’s Promo start on December 1st! You’ll need to place your orders by December 18th to receive them before Christmas, so be sure to plan ahead.

Thank you, AC Family, and until next week, it’s Ant Love Forever! ❤️