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Species & care sheets

Giant Forest Ant

Dinomyrmex gigas · มดตะลานยักษ์ปักษ์ใต้

DifficultyVery hardHow often it is foundพบได้ไม่ยากDefencesAggressive

Thailand's largest ant, with soldiers nearly 3 cm long, was only recently confirmed living in a Songkhla forest. A master-level species that needs serious space and humidity.

เคยถูกจัดอยู่ในสกุล Camponotus (Camponotus gigas)

Overview

Temperature

22–26°C

Humidity

70–80%

Diet

Sugar · Insects

Nest type

natural/dirt / Ytong / Acrylic / Wood

Growth

Slow

Colony size

500–3,000 ตัว

Difficulty — ต้องการพื้นที่ขนาดใหญ่มาก ควบคุมอุณหภูมิและความชื้นให้เย็นชื้นสม่ำเสมอ และโตช้ามากในระยะตั้งรัง
Colony size — รังธรรมชาติขนาดใหญ่สุดอาจมีประชากรได้ประมาณ 7,000 ตัว
How often it is found — มีข้อมูลบันทึกพบค่อนข้างมาก เจอได้ไม่ยากนัก — เคยมีวางขายในร้านนักเลี้ยงมดต่างประเทศ (แต่ปัจจุบันหมด/ไม่พร้อมส่ง) · Records in Thailand 0 · Records worldwide 3,552 · Hobbyist market: Was sold, now out of stock

Derived from record counts in global databases (GBIF · AntWeb · iNaturalist), not from how common the ant is in Thailand. — น่าเชื่อถือ — AntWiki ระบุพิสัยกระจายครอบคลุม Indomalaya (เอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้)

What it eats

SugarsProteinSeedsFungus

Care sheet in progressData confidence: สูง

Size

Body length by caste, and the ants drawn to scale on a credit card

Queen

30-31 mm

Major

28-30 mm

Worker

20-28 mm

Actual size against a credit card

Ants are drawn to scale on a standard card (85.6 × 54 mm) — hold a real card against the screen and move the slider until the card matches, and the ants are then life-size.

ANTVERSE

Scale card · 85.6 × 54 mm

Worker
~24 mm

Major
~29 mm

Queen
~30.5 mm

Calibrate card width324 px

Behaviour & care

Defences

Aggressive

Attacks when disturbed — handle with care.

Bites

Sprays formic acid

Colony profile

Queens

Single queen (monogyne)

Founding

Claustral

Diapause

Not required

Growth

Slow

In depth

มดชนิดนี้มีการต่อสู้แย่งชิงอาณาเขตในตอนกลางคืนด้วยการ "มวยปล้ำ" แบบมีรูปแบบเฉพาะ เพื่อวัดความแข็งแกร่งโดยไม่ทำให้มดทั้งสองฝ่ายบาดเจ็บถึงชีวิต

Appearance

Dinomyrmex gigas is one of the largest ant species on Earth, with majors and queens easily reaching 30 mm in length. They feature a striking dark body with reddish-brown abdomens and long, powerful legs.

Where it lives

Native to the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Borneo. They typically build large subterranean nests around the root systems of massive rainforest trees.

Found in

Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Borneo, Sumatra, Singapore)

Behaviour

Strictly nocturnal foragers, these giant ants travel high into the forest canopy and across the forest floor searching for honeydew, plant secretions, and small invertebrates.

Keeping it

Requires a massive setup with superior ventilation, high humidity (75-90%), and cool temperatures (22-26°C). Natural dirt setups or highly moisture-retentive Ytong nests work best. Feed high-quality sugar liquids and fresh feeder insects.

Nest type

natural/dirtYtongAcrylicWood

Where the difficulty is

Extremely challenging to establish from a single queen; colony growth is slow, and they are highly sensitive to heat spikes above 28°C and low humidity.

Fun fact

Formerly classified as Camponotus gigas, it was placed into its own genus Dinomyrmex. The species name "gigas" stems from Latin, meaning "giant."

Gallery

Live photographs are by iNaturalist observers under CC BY-NC — every one carries its credit.

Sources

The Thai text is written from the facts in these sources, not copied from them. · Data confidence: สูง

This page is husbandry information only — live ants aren't sold on the site, for the animals' safety in transit.