This is my queen ant named Lacey. She is a
Componotus cruentatus which is a sub species of the Carpenter Ants family. She can outlive a cat or dog, because she can get 18 years old!
Currently my ant colony has grown to about 50 workers since I bought my queen in October 2018. This is a larger ant species (6 to 12 mm), so the process from egg to adult ant takes much longer compared to smaller species. This means the colony has a slow start, but in a few years it can grow to a population of >10K depending on the temperatures and amount of food I give them. The species naturally lives in warm climates in the south of Europe and in North Africa. They are quite aggressive and can spray acid when feel threatened.
I love watching them walk around in search of food or carrying around trash. Also after their hibernation period I think I even spotted a major in my terrarium underground! (when a colony is successful the queen will start spawning large soldier ants to protect the nest and those are called majors).
This is what a major looks like:
There is even a possibility of super majors which are even larger.
Hope you found this an interesting read.