Egg to Ant ...Growth questions

[ripley8]

Hello!!
*newbie to the forum and proud keeper of my first Queen here

I thought maybe we could all talk here on this thread in case anyone else has a egg to ant "growth" question too.

I have a Queen Pogonomyrmex Barbatus (large red harvester AZ usa)... and I have had her for 3 wks.
She laid eggs on the 3rd day I had her.
She has also laid more eggs as recently as yesterday. Now there are a total of about 15.
But her eggs have not really grown at all.
She cares for them, seems to feed them with her saliva, moves them etc (so they must be alive) but they haven't moved on to the next stage.

I'm wondering how long it takes for POGONOMYRMEX BARBATUS to go from egg to ant?

Is it usual for eggs to take this long? Can I do more to help? The temperature in my home is usually pretty high already since I live in Arizona and use a swamp cooler.  The temp is usually 75-80 during the day everyday. Does she need more heat?

(So basically this thread can be used for anyone asking about the GROWTH of their eggs/larve for their particular species of ant. )

I'm just asking first... feel free to ask on this same thread
Just hoping you experts might know because I cannot find any information using google or fb. I'd like to know what the stages are and how long each typically last too but I have no idea if you would know about that or if it differs for every batch of eggs.

Thank you to anyone who answers!!

Here is a picture I found, for you guys to enjoy


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Wood~Ant]

Hi Ripley8 and welcome to the Ant Hill World forum. I had a feeling you might be into the "Aliens" movies from your choice of user name. 

From my own experience of keeping Pogonomyrmex barbatus the queen I had went for about 3 to 4 weeks before her eggs began to turn into tiny first instar larvae.
This thread should help give you some idea Egg to Adult Ant  

Have fun exploring the forum, and you have some cool ant species out there in Arizona as that is where my Pogo queen originated from. 

[ripley8]

Aug 6, 2013 11:36:30 GMT Wood~Ant said:

Hi Ripley8 and welcome to the Ant Hill World forum. I had a feeling you might be into the "Aliens" movies from your choice of user name. 

From my own experience of keeping Pogonomyrmex barbatus the queen I had went for about 3 to 4 weeks before her eggs began to turn into tiny first instar larvae.
This thread should help give you some idea Egg to Adult Ant  

Have fun exploring the forum, and you have some cool ant species out there in Arizona as that is where my Pogo queen originated from. 

Thank you so much Wood~Ant!
I'm glad that the timing is normal so far! What a relief.
I will check out that thread as well... thank you!


Yes I am a huge ALIEN fan I Love all 4.   
You've got to love "Xenomorphs" 
....can't see those 'up close' though... *cough* lol

[ripley8]

Ok you guys
On another forum I have been told that I need to up the temperature to 90 degrees F... and that they even like it at 110.
This gets me a little worried.
My house is pretty much 80 F consistently (day or night). And the others have told me that if I keep it that way I can double the amount of time it takes for them to grow and mature because it needs to be warmer (aka 90 F optimal). 

  Websites have said that Queens can get exhausted and deplete their energy in their queen hump (back) and possibly die if it takes to long for her workers to come. So..... of course now I'm worried.
I don't want to overheat her. They said buy a lizard tank heating pad for her and a stick on thermometer to watch the temp. That is pricey and also ...how do I know I won't fry her and the eggs if I put her CD set up on the pad? 
All of this is getting worry-some. 
I don't want to over heat her but I don't want her to wear herself out waiting either.

So are there any other options as to how to warm her up safely?


I will take some pics tonite of her and the eggs as well.

[Wood~Ant]

Okay, you live in Arizona and Pogo are native to the state. 

You have been told they like high temperatures, which being desert dwelling ants is a good probability; but ask yourself how hot does it it get where you live, and how cold can it get also? Night or day, summer or winter?
Some of our UK members have successfully kept Pogonomyrmex species in our colder climate, as kept indoors I have found even tropical ants can survive as long as they are kept warm during the winter months.

If your home stays at 80F. or above and drops no lower than say 77 degrees, then this should be plenty warm enough. You may find your queen lays better at hotter temperatures and the brood will certainly develop faster, but my own Pogo barbatus queen managed to raise some workers here in England, and all I did was keep her in the cupboard where our hot water boiler tank raises the temp to about 27 Celsius; and it drops down to 21 Celsius (70F.) at its coolest.

I follow the motto they had in the movie Galaxy Quest, "Never give up and never surrender" when it comes to keeping ants.