Myrmecocystus depilis can be sent to the following states (permits included with shipment):

Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas.

***Please Read the Information on the link (here) on our Live Arrival Guarantee.***

 ***Each Colony is shipped with a permit and a care sheet***

General information

Common Name: Honey Pot Ant

Scientific Name: Myrmecocystus depilis

Species Size: Small (queens and repletes can be larger)

Growth Rate: Average

Special: Replete Workers, heat requirement.

Myrmecocystus depilis inhabits a variety of different habitats in their native range.  They are most active in the daytime, and are scavengers of dead insects.  They are often seen visiting flowers and tend aphids for their honeydew.  Some smaller repletes show up early in the colony life-cycle, generally within the first 10-15 workers.  Larger repletes are produced later in the colony life-cycle in the 2nd and 3rd year. 

Out of the several personal colonies we have raised of this species, we have used both the Mini Hearth and the Lair for founding our colonies.   The Lair is currently our favorite "honey pot" formicarium in terms of visibility and close-ups during video shoots.  The Mini Hearth formicarium from Tar Heel Ants is our most successful formicarium for honey pot ants over the years we have been in business since 2011.  Both are well suited for colonies consisting only of a queen and brood or a queen with her first workers.  On average, this formicarium will be sufficient in size for about a year, depending on the care provided.

Shipping

We typically ship ants and bundles including ants on Monday, Tuesday and Saturdays with some exceptions.  

We offer heat and ice pack options, so please use these if you expect them to be helpful to the safe arrival of your ant colony.  We do check national and local temperatures prior to each shipment, and will contact you should there be need for further communication about your delivery due to weather complications.  If temperatures are 90-110 Fahrenheit, ice packs will only help for a short time.  Please plan ahead and setup notifications to your phone or email address with your tracking information we send to you upon completion of your order.  Boxes left out in the sun with live ants should be brought inside as soon as possible.  Ice and Heat packs are for protection DURING transit, not for protection once they are dropped off.  We require you to plan for the ants to be brought inside within 30 minutes of their arrival if temperatures are below 40 Fahrenheit or above 80 Fahrenheit OR if they will be left in a sunny location.

After Arrival

The ants are shipped in a temporary shipping environment, meant to shield them from harsh conditions and prevent flooding.  The humidity is kept constant during the shipment.  The ants will need a new home shortly after arrival, no later than one week after being shipped is our recommendation.  If you cannot move them right away, keep them in a cooler area of your home (no heating during this time is needed) and also try to provide them a moist Q-tip or something similar to drink from.  Call us for questions (919)348-3642 related to the care of your new ants.

Why We Think You Should Choose Tar Heel Ants For Your Ant Colony Purchases?

We keep a large amount of colonies and queens year round.  We have over 12 years of experience with raising ant colonies from all over the U.S., as well as communicating with thousands of hobbyists and professionals during that time about ant care.  Learning from experiences and through networking with others, we offer our own unique approach to selling ants colonies:

• Always choose the best colony from the available colonies we have in stock.

• Ants are cared for and maintained in clean environments.  We do not leave ants in dirty test tube habitats.

• Feeding schedule maintained on a daily basis.

• We ship ants safely and humanely in our genesis test tube habitats, under 6 layers of protection at minimum.

• We only ship queens with workers.   The workers are an integral part of shipping, as they work to keep the brood safe during transit to your location.

How do I receive my order faster? (NOTE: Normal time to create a Lair with this package using the package options is 10-14 days).

1. Go to the Ready-To-Ship Lair pages, and look at the Lair formicaria available on that page set.  (NOTE: If there are none available and you would like to inquire anyways about faster options with the Lair, please email or phone us)

2. When checking out, type in the model number in your checkout box (comments field), and we will ship this on the next shipping day for ants.  These are usually Monday and Saturdays, but sometimes this changes due to weather. 

What comes with the purchase of a Myrmecocystus depilis Colony and Lair Bundle Package?

• Lair Formicarium

• Queen, 10+ workers, and brood. 

• Test Tube Connector and tubing (optional) (For transfer of colony into Mini Hearth)

• Ants Shipped Inside Genesis Test Tube Insert For Protection During Shipping. 

• Heat Packs or Ice Packs . (optional, please choose from options if you feel your location will require this for safe arrivial).

• Options Chosen During Checkout Can Alter The Included List 

• Guaranteed Live arrival! Email us at tarheelants@gmail.com immediately after receiving your ants to report any problems with delivery!  Please be ready to provide photo or video evidence of the problems so they can be used for improvement of shipping/handling the issues involved with your delivery.

Recommended Products Related to Myrmecocystus depilis:

Mini Hearth formicarium (or you can customize your own here)

Fortress Formicarium (or customize your own here)

Lair Formicarium

Recommended Accessories:  Test Tube Adapater, 3/8" tubing, Featherweight Forceps, The Complete Ant Juice, Liquid Feeders.  Heating Cable.

Please Watch the videos below. This video will show some of the common features of Tar Heel Ants formicaria and the proper placement of the accessories included: