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Species & care sheets

Cocoa Black Ant

Dolichoderus thoracicus · มดก้นห้อยธรรมดา

DifficultyModerateHow often it is foundพบได้ทั่วไปDefencesDefensive

Known to cocoa farmers as a natural pest-control partner, the Cocoa Black Ant is a moderately easy species that grows its colony quickly when cared for well.

Overview

Temperature

24–28°C

Humidity

60–80%

Diet

Sugar · Insects

Nest type

Arboreal / carton / Acrylic

Growth

Fast

Colony size

1,000–5,000 ตัว

Difficulty — เป็นมดต้นไม้ที่ต้องการความชื้นสูงและการจัดการรังแบบรังกระดาษ/รังต้นไม้ ซึ่งดูแลยากกว่ามดดินทั่วไปเล็กน้อย
Colony size — มักมีนางพญาหลายตัว (Polygyne) ทำให้ขยายรังได้ขนาดใหญ่มาก
How often it is found — มดที่มีข้อมูลบันทึกพบมากที่สุดในกลุ่ม เจอได้บ่อยตามธรรมชาติ — มีบันทึกยืนยันพบในไทยโดยตรงด้วย · Records in Thailand 547 · Records worldwide 5,700 · Hobbyist market: Not listed

Derived from record counts in global databases (GBIF · AntWeb · iNaturalist), not from how common the ant is in Thailand. — น่าเชื่อถือสูง — มีบันทึกพิกัด/ตัวอย่างในไทยจริง (GBIF/AntWeb)

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

6.0-7.5 mm

Worker

3.5-4.5 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
~4 mm

Queen
~6.8 mm

Calibrate card width324 px

Behaviour & care

Defences

Defensive

Bites or stings when disturbed — mind the nest when opening it.

Bites

Colony profile

Queens

Several queens (polygyne)

Founding

Claustral

Diapause

Not required

Growth

Fast

In depth

มดชนิดนี้ถูกนำมาใช้เป็นสิ่งมีชีวิตควบคุมศัตรูพืชตามธรรมชาติในสวนโกโก้และสวนส้มทั่วภูมิภาคเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้

Appearance

Dolichoderus thoracicus features a dark brown to black body with a distinctively shaped thorax. They are medium-sized arboreal ants with relatively flexible gaster structures.

Where it lives

Widespread across Southeast Asia, including Thailand. They reside in trees, constructing carton nests made of plant fibers and saliva among branches and foliage.

Found in

Southeast Asia

Behaviour

They form polygyne colonies with multiple queens and establish dense foraging trails. They share a symbiotic relationship with sap-sucking insects like mealybugs to harvest honeydew.

Keeping it

Maintain temperatures at 24-29°C and humidity at 60-80%. Offer sugar water and small insects. Nests should provide good ventilation along with stable humidity.

Nest type

ArborealcartonAcrylic

Where the difficulty is

Managing humidity and nest sanitation can be tricky, as their natural carton-building habits require an arboreal setup that avoids mold growth.

Fun fact

Cocoa farmers often intentionally introduce and transfer colonies of Dolichoderus thoracicus between trees to naturally suppress cacao mirid bugs without using chemical pesticides.

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.