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Species & care sheets

Mexican Twig Ant

Pseudomyrmex gracilis · มดกิ่งไม้เขตร้อนอเมริกา

DifficultyHardHow often it is foundพบได้ทั่วไปDefencesAggressive

A slender, wasp-like twig ant from Mexico and tropical America, orange and black with sharp eyesight and a talent for escaping. Best suited for experienced keepers.

เดิมจัดอยู่ในสกุล Pseudomyrma ก่อนจะเปลี่ยนมาใช้ Pseudomyrmex

Overview

Temperature

24-28°C (มีระดับความร้อนในรัง)

Humidity

50-70% (มีระดับความชื้น)

Diet

Sugar · Insects

Nest type

Wood / Test tube / Acrylic

Growth

Medium

Colony size

200-600 ตัว

Difficulty — เป็นมดสร้างรังแบบ Semi-claustral ที่ต้องการพื้นที่ไต่ระดับแบบต้นไม้ และมีเหล็กในที่ต่อยเจ็บปวดมาก
Colony size — รังขนาดใหญ่มักมีประชากรประมาณ 1,000-2,000 ตัวในธรรมชาติ
How often it is found — มดที่มีข้อมูลบันทึกพบมากที่สุดในกลุ่ม เจอได้บ่อยตามธรรมชาติ · Records in Thailand 0 · Records worldwide 11,085 · Hobbyist market: Not listed

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

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

10-12 mm

Worker

8-10 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
~9 mm

Queen
~11 mm

Calibrate card width324 px

Behaviour & care

Defences

Aggressive

Attacks when disturbed — handle with care.

Stings

Bites

Colony profile

Queens

Single queen (monogyne)

Founding

Semi-claustral

Diapause

Not required

Growth

Medium

In depth

มดกิ่งไม้ชนิดนี้พึ่งพาสายตาในการล่าและนำทางเป็นหลัก ต่างจากมดส่วนใหญ่ที่อาศัยฟีโรโมน

Appearance

Slender, wasp-like body with exceptionally large compound eyes relative to head size. Often features a striking orange-and-black contrast coloration.

Where it lives

Native from the southern United States through Central and South America. They nest in hollow twigs, dead branches, and abandoned insect tunnels in trees.

Found in

North America, Central America, South America

Behaviour

Fast-moving arboreal foragers that hunt solitarily. Their acute vision allows them to quickly detect movement, ambush prey, and dodge threats.

Keeping it

Best kept in wooden nests or test tubes with wood inserts. Maintain temperature at 24-28°C and humidity at 50-70%, providing an outworld filled with twigs for climbing.

Nest type

WoodTest tubeAcrylic

Where the difficulty is

Founding queens are semi-claustral and require feeding during the founding stage. They also possess a painful sting, requiring careful handling.

Fun fact

Their wasp-like movement and appearance serve as a form of mimicry to deter predators. They are highly adaptable and have spread widely across the Americas.

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.