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Crematogaster lineolata

Lined Acrobat Ant

Crematogaster lineolata
Intermediate level
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Photo: Robert Webster / xpda.com, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

🐜 At a glance

  • Origin: Eastern and central USA; oak woodland, forest, grassland

  • Nest temperature: 22–26°C; heater at 24°C in cool homes

  • Outworld temperature: 18°C night, up to 28°C day; by day like the nest or a degree or two cooler

  • Humidity: Nest 50–60%; outworld about 50%, never watered

  • Winter: Rest Nov–end of March; steady 8–10°C only in a hibernation unit, or room temperature

  • Move to a nest: 50+ workers; A queen on her own too: tiny workers

  • Size: Queen about 7–9 mm; workers about 2.5–4.5 mm, red-brown and black

  • Colony: Usually one queen; several thousand workers when mature

📖 About this species

A tiny, lively acrobat ant from eastern North America that flips its heart-shaped gaster over its head when alarmed. In the wild it builds little tents over the aphids it farms.

🍯 Feeding

  • Proteins: Protein Jelly (keep in the fridge) or Cricket Mash

  • Carbohydrates: organic Ant Honey or Ant Nectar, far better than sugar water or home-made mixes (small drops so tiny workers don't get stuck)

  • Twice a week, small amounts, outworld only; remove leftovers after 2 days. Live food only for established colonies: scalded, cut in half, never for small colonies.

💧 Watering the nest

  • Distilled or purified water only. Never tap, rain or bottled mineral water, even boiled (mould and fungus).

  • Pipette a few drops through the watering hole; stop when 1–2 drops appear inside. About once a week, or when the meter drops below 50%.

  • Never water the outworld; keep it at about 50% humidity. A watering test tube in the outworld gives a safe drink.

🏠 Setting up the ant farm

  • A7 Plus ant farm kit only (small nest with a built-in digital meter)

  • Advanced Heating System Small 4W under one quarter of the nest, opposite the watering area, set to 24°C (in cool homes)

  • Daylight, never direct sunlight; away from windows, radiators, vibrations, speakers and kitchens; a steady spot, as they are very sensitive to vibration

  • Escape risk: high. PTFE Fluon band on the top inner edge of the outworld lid, reapplied every 2–4 weeks

💡 Good to know

  • North American ant: not sold by Best Ants UK, may be illegal or impossible to import to the UK, and we don't encourage importing ants

  • Keep one queen per colony: keepers report queens put together kill each other. A small nip, but harmless to people

  • Never release: it is not a UK ant. Can't keep it? See our ant adoption page

⭐ Golden rules | Never break these

  • 🚫 Never put ants in a fridge, shed or garage, and never expose them to abrupt temperature changes.

  • 🚫 Never use gel ant farms, Ytong or concrete nests, or DIY nests.

  • 🚫 Never use tap, rain or mineral water, even boiled.

  • 🚫 Never move a colony into a nest too early, and never tip or shake ants out of their tube.

  • 🚫 Never release ants into the wild. If you can no longer keep a colony, visit our ants adoption page and ask us whether we can adopt it.

🛒 Recommended for this species

📚 These care notes cover the essentials only. Please read the full ant farm setup guide and our Crematogaster lineolata care guide from A to Z. Questions? Message us through our contact form and we will be happy to help. 💚

Written and reviewed by the Best Ants UK team, keeping ants since 1997.

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