Harvester Ants are sold and distributed for WFRR by PhrynosomaTexas/PogonomyrmexTexas. All profits from sales go directly to WFRR.
Harvester Ants: Feeder Ants for Horned Lizard ( aka Horny Toad ) or for use in Ant Farms
Fall Pricing:
500ct.: $15.00 Shipping by Priority Mail included
1000ct.: $24.95 Shipping by Priority Mail included
( Ants will not be available during winter. Your order is subject to current availability. It may take up to 2 weeks to fill your order this late in the season. )
Direct PayPal Payments To: Phrynosoma_Texas@yahoo.com
Pogonomyrmex barbatus spp.
These are fresh and live Harvester ants, from the same colonies I feed my own Horned Lizards everyday. Our rescued Horned Lizards eat most of them, but we usually have enough on hand to sell and help fund our efforts. Whether as food for Horned Lizards, or for ants farms, these are the most popular genus of ant.
The P. barbatus species of harvester ant, is the most abundant harvester ant species within the Horned Lizard's natural range; from Texas, through Oklahoma and Kansas, and west to New Mexico and Arizona, and south into northern Mexico. The majority of Horned Lizard species are instinctually familiar with this species of harvester ant. Other species, such as P. californicus, have a smaller relative distribution and may be rejected or not favored by some species of Horned Lizard, particularly those not native to California or western AZ. and NV. The P. rugosus species, is a barbatus "complex" harvester ant, and is relatively smaller.
Why buy from us?
1. We are an animal rescue, and funds from the sale of these ants go to support our efforts in animal rescue, public education, and wildlife conservation; including the Horned Lizard.
2. We use sustainable methods to gather our harvester ants, which causes less impact to the local ecosystem.
Our biggest competitors use methods such as complete colony excavation with backhoe tractors, or digging deep trenches and then using compressed gas to evacuate the ants from their nest by blowing them out by the tens of thousands. These methods destroy the colony, which might have been there for a decade or more, and this results in the loss of a possible food source for wild Horned Lizards which live in the immediate area. Since these methods destroy colonies, which may take years for a harvester ant queen to build up, these methods are not sustainable in the long run.
We gather havester ants, using only vacuums on the ground surface. This ensures that not too many workers are taken from any one colony, and that the impact to the colony is minimal. The queen is quickly able to replace the lost workers without risking collapse of the colony, as would be the case with our competitor's methods.
When we discover a young winged queen or male drone in our vacuums, and we know where they came from, we make every effort to return them to their colony so that red harvester ants here will have the best chances of continuing on strong in the wild. These harvester ants not only serve as an important part of the ecosystem as a food source for "Horny Toads", but are one of the few natural deterrents to imported red fire ant invasion. Though they frequently lose to fire ants, harvester ants compete for resources with fire ants, and can help slow or stop the spread of that invasive pest species.
3. We are by far the most reasonably priced, whether you are looking for these ants as feeders or for an ant farm. We are routinely priced several dollars cheaper for the same quantity than our closest competition, and some suppliers even ask for the outrageous sum of $8 for a mere 30 ants!
4. We ship fast. Usually within 2 days of cleared payment, depending on weather and your location, and we use priority mail ( 2-3 days ConUS ). Some of our competitors use the slower first class option, and/or take up to 2 weeks to even fill your order for shipment. The slower mailing method also may likely result in you not getting all your ants alive.
Basic Life Cycle of the Harvester Ant:
The winged males and females gather at the entrance to their home colony where they were raised, awaiting spring and summer rain showers. After these showers, the winged ants take flight to mate. Once mated, the female flies off to become a new queen and start her own colony. The rain soaked ground helps her to dig just deep enough to lay her first eggs. She stays to keep guard, and survives on nothing but her own nutritional reserves until the new ants hatch. When the new young workers are born, they help to enlarge the colony for their queen and start gathering food for the colony as it grows. The workers are very industrious and spend all of their time digging tunnels, tending to the queen and the new young ant larvae, or foraging for food. The workers normally do not live very long, but the queen Harvester Ant and her colony itself may live for 12 or more years in the wild!
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Horned Lizards:
Most Horned Lizard species are largely dependent on Harvester Ants as the main food item in their daily diet. The average adult Horned Lizard may eat 50-100 ants a day, or more, depending on size and species. The percentage of Harvester Ants in your Horned Lizard's natural wild diet varies with species. This could be anywhere from 60% to 90% of its natural diet. Most Horned Lizard species in captivity are P. platyrhinos, which are on the higher end of the scale, probably second only to the P. solare or P. mcallii in the amount of ants they eat.
Harvester Ants contain formic acid, which as harvesters of plant matter, is taken up from plants which produce it as a by-product of oxidation of CO2. Formic acid is believed by many Horned Lizard experts, such as Dr. Richard Montanucci ( Maintenance & Propagation of Horned Lizards in Captivity 1989 ), to aid in creating and maintaining proper pH levels and flora in the digestive tract of the lizard. This pH provides anti-infective protection from certain gram negative bacteria which cause common illnesses in reptiles, and may also help keep gastric parasites in check by providing a less hospitable pH environment.
Formic acid is a carboxylic acid, and a simple building block of more complex proteins; useful in the repair of damaged cells among other things. Horned Lizards also derive hydration from this acid, which when metabolized gives a small amount of water, salt, and carbon dioxide as by-products. These ants, being seed and plant harvesters, are additionally a great source of essential fatty acids. This provides protein and energy the Horned Lizard needs without loading him down with heavy common feeder items ( such as crickets and mealworms ) that are usually high in fat and chitin, and which require more metabolic energy to digest. Overuse of such prey items in the Horned Lizards' diet requires extra water in the bowels to digest these components properly. Insufficient hydration may result over the long term and lead to impaction. For the Horned Lizard species which are desert dwelling, water stores are better put to use elsewhere in the body than being used to break down excessively fatty meals.
Horned Lizards are generally difficult to keep in captivity and not recommended for the beginner. To ensure optimum health of your Horned Lizard and encourage full growth, feed him/her a varied diet that also includes a generous daily amount of Harvester ants.
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Payments, Shipping, and Contact Info:
* Most orders shipped within 2 business days ( After your payment CLEARS. If you draft from your bank account without PayPal funds, it will take much longer. )
* This does not mean you will receive your order in 2 days.
* Live orders shipped Mon-Wed. ONLY, unless you live within 1 day transit zone, or request and pay for express service.
* Priority Mail is generally 2-3 business days to most locations. This is not a guarantee of the delivery day.
* I do not sell queens
* I do not sell Horned Lizards ( Don't ask where you can buy on either )
Accepted Forms of Payment:
* PayPal
* Credit/Debit card payments with PayPal ( you do not need an account to use PayPal )
* USPS Money order
Ships to N. America or anywhere you are able to import them. Please do not email me asking if I can ship to your country. Check your own importation laws first as I do not have time to verify that for every country. If your customs/postal officials say you can receive them, then I will ship them, but I make no guarantees on international orders without proof of verification from your customs/postal agency. Shipping quotes to international addresses will depend on how much paperwork I must process to mail them.
Direct PayPal payments to Phrynosoma_Texas@yahoo.com or click on the PayPal button below. Please include the quantity you wish to order and your shipping address when making your payment. If you are paying by money order, I ONLY accept United States Postal Service. Send email to request mailing address.