How to Care for Aphaenogaster picea | The Woodland Winnow Ant Guide
Photo: Emmett Collins-Sussman, via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Long-legged, quick and almost spider-like, Aphaenogaster picea is one of the most common woodland ants of eastern North America. It hides under logs and stones on the forest floor and quietly helps woodland flowers spread their seeds.
It belongs to the winnow ants, a group of calm, hard-working foragers. This guide explains Aphaenogaster picea care step by step, from a queen in a test tube to a thriving woodland colony.
Aphaenogaster picea is a North American ant, and Best Ants UK does not sell it. North American ants may be illegal or impossible to import into the UK, and we never encourage importing ants. This guide is for keepers where it is native, and for anyone curious.
We have kept ants since 1997, and these are the care rules we use for our own colonies every day.
👉 In a hurry? Download our free Aphaenogaster picea care sheet (PDF), open the Aphaenogaster picea care sheet page or explore all our free ant care sheets.
Aphaenogaster picea at a Glance
Also known as: a winnow ant, a woodland Aphaenogaster of the fulva and rudis group
Origin: eastern North America, from south-eastern Canada through the eastern and north-eastern USA
Sold by Best Ants UK: no, it is a North American species
Keeping level: Beginner*, best with a little experience
Queen: about 7 to 7.5mm, shiny black
Workers: about 3.5 to 5.5mm, long-legged, dark brown head and gaster with a reddish-brown thorax
Colony: one queen, a few hundred workers, sometimes more
Nest temperature: 24 to 28°C in the active season
Nest humidity: 50 to 70%
Workers before moving into a nest: 10 minimum, 15 to 20 recommended
Winter: a rest from October to March at 5 to 8°C, only in a hibernation unit
Escape risk: quick climbers, so a PTFE barrier is a must
Meet the Woodland Winnow Ant
In the wild, Aphaenogaster picea lives in damp, shady forests and woodland meadows. It nests in rotting logs and old stumps, under bark, under stones and in the soil, in almost any snug space with the right warmth and shelter.
The nests are shallow and easy to miss, with no big mound, just a small, neat entrance hole. Pick up a log in an eastern American forest and there is a good chance you will find these ants underneath.
The workers hunt small insects, scavenge dead ones and collect sweet liquids. They also carry seeds of woodland flowers, such as violets and trilliums, back to the nest, eat the fatty little treat attached to each seed and throw the seed out, where it can grow.
They have a clever trick with liquids. Instead of drinking a lot at once, workers often drop tiny bits of leaf or soil into a sweet drop, let them soak it up and carry the soaked pieces home like little sponges.
Mating flights happen in July and August, usually on warm, humid afternoons after rain. A mated queen then seals herself in a small chamber in soil or soft, rotting wood and raises her first workers alone. Each colony has one queen.
When Your Ants Arrive
The most important step: leave the parcel completely unopened, exactly as it arrived, at room temperature for 5 hours. The ants must adjust to your home's temperature slowly, because abrupt temperature changes make ants seriously unwell.
After the 5 hours, check the queen is safe and sound. Then leave the colony in its original packaging, with the test tube still in its tin foil and wrapping, somewhere quiet and still, away from daily household activity. Daylight is fine, never direct sunlight.
Give the colony 4 to 5 days of complete rest, with no food. A good supplier feeds the ants before dispatch. Use this time to set up and water the nest. 👉 Our step-by-step ant farm setup guide shows you exactly how.
Still workers or a motionless queen after delivery are almost always delivery stress. Look at the queen's antennae: moving antennae mean she is fine. Almost all recover within 4 to 5 days.
Life in the Test Tube
Keep the colony in its test tube until it has at least 10 workers. 15 to 20 is even better. Moved earlier, the workers often abandon the queen in the bigger space, and the colony can fail. The same rule applies to a queen on her own.
A queen on her own still needs a little food. Once a week, give her a tiny drop of protein jelly, about half a grain of rice, on a small flat piece of tin foil inside the tube, next to the dry cotton stopper.
In our experience a fed queen raises her first workers faster, and the queen and colony do far better afterwards. Keep her tube wrapped in its foil and disturb her as little as possible.
Be patient. Colonies are often slow to get going. With warmth, the brood takes roughly 6 to 8 weeks from egg to worker, and growth speeds up once there are a few dozen workers.
Moving Into the Ant Farm
When the colony is ready, connect the test tube to the nest with the delivery tin foil still on. Leave it like that for 14 days.
Then slide the foil back about 1mm every day until the tube is fully exposed to daylight. If the ants haven't moved 2 days later, wrap the foil back on, wait another fortnight and repeat. Moving in can take from a couple of days to 6 months.
Once the colony has moved, leave the old test tube connected for at least another 14 days, as ants sometimes leave brood behind.
The red filter and black cover stay on the nest all the time. You can lift the black cover once a day for 2 to 3 minutes, ideally at night, and take the red filter off once a week for 2 to 3 minutes. Take colony photos once a month at most.
The Best Ant Farm for Aphaenogaster picea
A colony of a few hundred ants is happiest in a small, snug nest it can fill. In the wild they live in rotting wood, but they don't need wood in captivity. DIY wood, cork or plaster nests are never a good idea.
Our top pick is the A7 Plus ant farm kit (you will find the link at the end of this guide). Its small nest suits a woodland colony, and its pre-installed digital meter shows nest temperature and humidity at a glance.
Place the ant farm in normal daylight, never direct sunlight. Avoid windows, radiators and heaters, vibrating surfaces, speakers and TVs, and rooms with strong smells such as the kitchen.
Temperature and Heating
Keep the nest at 24 to 28°C from spring to autumn. These are forest-floor ants, so they don't need desert heat, but a steady warm spot keeps the brood growing.
In a cool home, where the room stays around 20°C or below, the brood takes far longer to develop. 👉 There, an Advanced Heating System Small 4W set to 24°C makes a big difference.
The heat mat goes under one quarter of the nest only, on the side opposite the watering area, so the ants can choose their spot. Never heat the whole nest.
In the outworld, aim for about 18°C overnight up to 28°C by day. By day it should ideally match the nest or be a degree or two cooler. If the nest is heated, warm the outworld too, because a big gap confuses the ants.
Water and Humidity
Keep the nest humidity at 50 to 70%. These woodland ants don't like their nest to dry out. Use distilled or purified water only. Never use tap water, rainwater or bottled mineral water, even boiled: they cause mould and fungus, which is deadly for ants.
Water the nest with the pipette provided. Pour slowly, a few drops at a time, through the watering hole. Stop as soon as 1 or 2 drops appear inside the nest. That is how you know it is done correctly.
Water about once a week, a little more in summer and a little less in winter. With a meter, simply water when the nest humidity drops below 50%.
Never water the outworld. Keep it dry, at about 50% humidity, like an average UK home. A watering test tube in the outworld gives the workers a safe drink.
Feeding Your Winnow Ants
Winnow ants are mainly insect eaters, so protein is the key to a growing colony. Feed twice a week, in small amounts, in the outworld only. Remove leftovers after 2 days to stop mould.
🥩 For the queen and brood, give 👉 Protein Jelly or 👉 Cricket Mash. Keep protein jelly in the fridge at all times.
🍯 For energy, give our 👉 organic ant honey or 👉 Ant Nectar, which has even more carbohydrates than honey. Both are far better than sugar water or home-made mixes. Don't worry if they bury a drop with bits of debris: that is how they carry it home.
Serve food on a small piece of tin foil or in a 👉 small feeding dish, so leftovers are easy to lift out. You don't need to give them seeds.
Live food, such as small crickets, is only for big, established colonies, never small ones. Always scald it first: wearing gloves, hold it with tweezers in just-boiled water (above 90°C, no longer bubbling) for 10 to 15 seconds, then cut it in half and serve it in the outworld.
Keep Mites Out of Your Colony
Blood-sucking mites are one of the biggest dangers for any ant colony, and they are not rare. They often arrive with bird seed from local shops and off-licences, dried mealworms (useless as ant food), and live food from pet shops or online, where about half carries mites.
Buy ant food only from established, reputable ant-keeping suppliers. At Best Ants UK we clean our foods before dispatch, check every colony twice a month, and check each colony again before it leaves us.
Now and then, look at your queen with a magnifying glass. Tiny white or reddish specks on her joints and legs, together with ants dying fast, are a warning sign of blood-sucking mites.
Stopping Escapes
Long-legged winnow ants are quick, nimble climbers, so escape prevention is a must. Paint a band of 👉 PTFE Fluon escape barrier around the top inner edge of the outworld lid. The ants slip off it and can't climb out.
PTFE wears off as the ants keep testing the same spots. For up to about 100 ants, reapply it roughly every 4 weeks. For 300 to 500 ants or more, reapply it about every 2 weeks.
Never shake the bottle, because it foams. Roll it gently in your hands instead.
Winter Care
Aphaenogaster picea comes from regions with cold winters, and it has a natural yearly rest built into its biological clock. Kept warm all winter, the queen stops laying anyway, the colony burns its reserves and slowly declines.
So from the second year, it needs a proper winter rest every year.
Give it a rest from October to March at 5 to 8°C, only in a specialised hibernation unit with precise control. Never put ants in a fridge, shed or garage, and never make an abrupt temperature change. We never rest queens in their first year.
In autumn the colony slows down and the brood stops growing. Once it has, lower the temperature gradually over 1 to 2 weeks, first to room temperature, about 18 to 20°C, and then down to the resting temperature. This gives the workers time to fill up on food first.
During the rest, keep the watering area slightly damp: cold air dries a nest quickly, and drying out is a common cause of winter losses. Give no food, only distilled or purified water.
In March, warm the colony up gradually over 5 to 7 days, from about 10°C to 18°C and then to 24°C. Offer organic honey or Ant Nectar straight away, then protein once the queen starts laying again.
Can I Release My Winnow Ants?
No. A colony raised indoors won't survive outside, and a North American ant doesn't belong in the wild here. If you ever can't keep your colony any more, 👉 visit our ant adoption page and let us know. We'll see whether we can take it in.
Frequently Asked Questions | FAQ
Is Aphaenogaster picea good for beginners?
It is a good second species for keepers with a little experience. The ants are calm and hardy, but the colony can be slow to start, it needs a proper winter rest every year and a fresh PTFE barrier. For a very first colony, Lasius niger is easier.
Can I buy Aphaenogaster picea in the UK?
Best Ants UK does not sell Aphaenogaster picea. It is a North American ant, and it may be illegal or impossible to import into the UK. We never encourage importing ants.
What is a winnow ant?
Winnow ants are Aphaenogaster, long-legged woodland ants. Many of them carry seeds with a fatty little snack attached back to the nest, eat the snack and leave the seed to grow, which helps woodland flowers spread.
How many workers before moving Aphaenogaster picea into a nest?
At least 10 workers, and 15 to 20 is even better. Moved too early, the workers often abandon the queen in the bigger space. The same rule applies to a queen on her own.
What temperature do Aphaenogaster picea need?
Keep the nest at 24 to 28°C in the active season, with the outworld at about 18°C overnight up to 28°C by day. In a cool home, an Advanced Heating System set to 24°C under one quarter of the nest keeps the brood growing.
Do Aphaenogaster picea hibernate?
Yes, every year from the second year. It needs a winter rest from October to March at 5 to 8°C, only in a specialised hibernation unit with precise control. Cool it down and warm it up gradually. We never rest queens in their first year.
Do Aphaenogaster picea sting?
They have a small sting, but they are shy ants that prefer to run, and they are harmless to people. As with every ant, never handle them, and keep the outworld lid closed.
Ready to Start Your Own Ant Colony?
👉 Start with the A7 Plus ant farm kit. Its small nest suits a woodland colony, its pre-installed digital meter shows temperature and humidity at a glance, and if you already have your ants, choose its Nest + Outworld option. Print this guide and keep it next to your ant farm.
