Formica sanguinea

Formica sanguinea is one of the best species for someone on the Eurasian continent, who is trying to keep a parasitic ant species. I love keeping Formica sanguinea because their colonies can grow quick and their behaviour is really interesting to observe, especially the interactions between the slave workers and the biological workers.

The thing that puts people ofs from keeping Formica sanguinea is that they're a parasitic species, but setting a queen up with hosts is really not that difficult and will be explained in full detail in Founding Setup.

The reason why I recommend this species to people as their first parasitic species is because they have a relatively high success rate, compared to parasitic species from the genus Lasius for example.

One thing to keep in mind is that the colonies of Formica sanguinea can get pretty big and big colonies will eat a lot, so you'll have to think about how you're going to feed such a big and hungry colony.