How to Care for Myrmecocystus mimicus | The Mimic Honey Pot Ant Guide
Myrmecocystus mimicus is a honey pot ant with a famous party trick. Instead of fighting to the death, rival colonies hold tournaments: hundreds of workers stand tall on stiff legs and show off to each other.
Inside the nest, some workers swell up with nectar and hang from the ceiling as living larders. This guide explains Myrmecocystus mimicus care step by step, from a founding queen to a thriving honey pot colony.
We have kept ants since 1997, and everything here follows the care rules we use every day for our own colonies.
👉 In a hurry? Download our free Myrmecocystus mimicus care sheet (PDF) or open the Myrmecocystus mimicus care sheet page for the key facts at a glance.
Myrmecocystus mimicus at a Glance
Also known as: the mimic honey pot ant
Origin: the south-western and central United States and northern Mexico
Keeping level: Intermediate
Queen: 8 to 9mm, dark reddish brown with a blackish gaster
Workers: 3 to 6mm, brownish red with a darker gaster; repletes swell into round honey pots
Colony: one queen, up to about 10,000 ants
Nest temperature: 28 to 35°C
Nest humidity: 50 to 70%
Workers before moving into a nest: 10 minimum, 15 to 20 recommended
Winter: no rest in the first year; from the second year, a natural rest at room temperature
Escape risk: high, so a PTFE barrier is a must
Meet the Mimic Honey Pot Ant
In the wild, Myrmecocystus mimicus lives in warm, dry country from Kansas and Texas west to California and south into Mexico. It nests in pebbly or clay soil, often with the entrance hidden in a clump of grass.
Unlike many honey pot ants, the workers forage by day, busiest around midday. They visit flowers for nectar, scavenge dead insects and hunt small live ones, termites included.
Nectar is passed to the repletes, who store it in their swollen gasters. When food is scarce, they pass it back to their nestmates drop by drop.
Neighbouring colonies settle borders with ritual tournaments rather than all-out battles. If one colony is much weaker, the stronger one may raid it and carry off its brood to raise as its own workers.
Each mature colony has a single queen and can reach about 10,000 ants. Growth is slow at the start, so patience pays off. New queens usually fly in the late afternoon after a soaking rain.
Can You Keep Myrmecocystus mimicus in the UK?
Myrmecocystus mimicus is a North American ant, and Best Ants UK does not sell it. It may be illegal or impossible to import into the UK, and we never encourage importing ants.
This guide is for keepers who already look after this species, and for anyone curious about honey pot ants.
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. The ants were fed before dispatch, so they need nothing from you. 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 bought 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, keep it warm and disturb her as little as possible.
If your room is cool, warm the tube with a heating cable at the cotton stopper end only. Never lay a test tube on a heat mat.
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. Ants sometimes leave a little 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 Myrmecocystus mimicus
Our A7 Plus ant farm, with its pre-installed digital meter, is our top pick for a young colony. It makes heating and watering far easier for a warmth-loving species like this. If you already have your ants, choose its Nest + Outworld option.
👉 As the colony grows into the thousands, the A6 ant farm kit with meter gives it more room, also with a built-in meter.
Place the ant farm in normal daylight, never direct sunlight: the sun can overheat a nest within minutes. Avoid windows, radiators and heaters, vibrating surfaces, speakers and TVs, and rooms with strong smells such as the kitchen.
Temperature and Heating
Honey pot ants come from hot, dry land, so warmth is the secret to a healthy, growing colony. Keep the nest at 28 to 35°C. A cool nest means a slow colony that barely grows.
Almost every UK home is far cooler than that. 👉 The Advanced Heating System Small 4W holds a steady warm spot with its digital thermostat. Set it to 30°C.
The heat mat goes under one quarter of the nest only, on the side opposite the watering area. The ants can then pick the spot they like best. Never heat the whole nest.
In the outworld, aim for about 18°C overnight up to 28°C by day. By day it should be as close to the nest temperature as you can manage. 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%. 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.
Water about once a week, a little more in summer and a little less in winter. A heated nest dries out faster, so check the meter often and 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 Honey Pot Ants
Sugars matter more for honey pot ants than for almost any other ant, because the colony stores them for hard times. Feed twice a week, in small amounts, in the outworld only. Remove leftovers after 2 days to stop mould.
🍯 For energy, give our 👉 organic ant honey or 👉 Ant Nectar, which has even more carbohydrates than honey. Offer it at every feed and never let them run short. Both are far better than sugar water or home-made mixes.
🥩 For the queen and brood, give 👉 Protein Jelly or 👉 Cricket Mash. These ants are keen hunters and scavengers, so protein is just as important as sugar for a growing colony. Keep protein jelly in the fridge at all times.
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 only, and serve it in the outworld. As a rare treat, a rice-grain-sized piece of peeled grape or banana is fine too.
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 in several ways before dispatch, check every colony twice a month, and check each colony again before it leaves us.
Live food always gets the scalding step above. 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
Honey pot workers are fast, active and keen explorers, 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 a small colony of 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; roll it gently instead.
Winter Care
Best Ants UK never puts a queen into a winter rest in her first year. Keep the nest warm at 28 to 35°C all through her first winter.
From the second year, the colony has a natural winter rest of about 2 to 3 months, for example from December to February. This desert ant doesn't need a cold hibernation.
Simply switch the heater off and keep the colony at room temperature, around 20°C, for its rest. It slows down anyway, because its biological clock can't be tricked. Never put ants in a fridge, shed or garage, and avoid any abrupt temperature change.
Feed less in winter, but never guess. At 17 to 22°C, give about a third of the summer amount. At 22 to 26°C, give about half. In March, bring the nest back up to full warmth gradually.
Can I Release My Ants?
No. A colony raised indoors won't survive outside, and a North American honey pot 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 Myrmecocystus mimicus good for beginners?
It is an intermediate species. The colony needs real warmth, a steady supply of sugars and a PTFE escape barrier, and it grows slowly at first. For a very first colony, a beginner species such as Lasius niger or Messor barbarus is easier.
Can I buy Myrmecocystus mimicus in the UK?
Best Ants UK does not sell this species. It is a North American ant, and it may be illegal or impossible to import into the UK. We never encourage importing ants.
What are repletes?
Repletes are special honey pot workers. Their sisters feed them nectar until their gasters swell into round, see-through balls, and they hang from the nest ceiling as a living food store for the whole colony.
What temperature do Myrmecocystus mimicus need?
Keep the nest at 28 to 35°C. Almost every UK home is far cooler, so an Advanced Heating System set to 30°C under one quarter of the nest is a must.
What do Myrmecocystus mimicus eat?
Plenty of organic honey or Ant Nectar for energy, plus Protein Jelly or Cricket Mash for the queen and brood. Feed twice a week, in the outworld only, and remove leftovers after 2 days.
Do Myrmecocystus mimicus hibernate?
Not in the first year. From the second year they have a natural winter rest. They don't need a cold hibernation: keep them at room temperature, around 20°C, and let the colony slow down on its own.
Do Myrmecocystus mimicus sting?
No. They have no sting, but the workers are fast, active and feisty and can bite. As with every ant, never handle them.
Start Your Own Honey Pot Ant Colony
Mimic honey pot ants are not sold by Best Ants UK. For UK keepers looking for a honey pot ant, 👉 explore our Myrmecocystus mexicanus colonies: a different species, larger, golden-yellow and active at night, and far more sensitive to excess moisture and mould.
👉 Give them a warm, easy-to-check home with our A7 Plus ant farm kit, with its pre-installed digital meter and Nest + Outworld option. Print this guide and keep it next to your ant farm. 👉 Explore all our free ant care sheets.
