M. ruba, or European fire ants as they are sometimes known, are considered an invasive species in the US. They are reported in experiments conducted by Schmidt ( 1980s? ) to have a formic acid venom with a sting comparable to a "mini-Pogonomyrmex". They are scavengers and predators primarily however, taking honeydew from aphids, as well as sweet secretions from plants.

Though the formic acid content is beneficial for supplemental hydration, being oxidized into water, salt, and CO2, and having certain benficial pathogenic antimicrobial effects in the gastric system; M. ruba are not primarily seed harvesters, therefore their other nutritional components will differ from Pogonomyrmex. To what degree this is significant I cannot say; but, another important component ( and probably the most important component in the diet of Phrynosoma as it conerns harvester ants as a fuel source ) is the essential free fatty acid constituents isolated from and available in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants due to their diet.

L. niger is primarily used in supplement along with a wide variety of other prey AND that it is primarily used as food for P. platyrhinos, which are the most common Phrynosoma traded in Europe.

P. cornutum are quite rare in Europe ( because they are protected in most places ), and their diet differs somewhat in the wild from platyrhinos. Though both platyrhinos and cornutum dine on Pogonomyrmex in the wild; platyrhinos also dines largely on honeypot ants, and other ants which are widely available in the desert. The SW desert is a place where many species of ants can thrive in underground colonies, where other types of invertebrate prey are not as abundant. Consequently, I would expect a certain higher variability in the acceptance of platyrhinos to differing ant species that may be available to them. My captive experience with this species seems to support that, in that they are not as fussy over offered ant species as cornutum can be.

I would not extrapolate necessarily that L. niger or other ants will be preferred by cornutum. P. cornutum dine on a wide variety of non-ant invertebrate prey in areas where Pogonomyrmex are not as dense, but in my experience they certainly seem to prefer Pogonomyrmex to other ants, and often reject ants unknown to them. They do inhabit parts of the SW desert, but more south-easterly than platyrhinos and more areas of the plains and east of the rockies, where vegetation is often more dense, humidity often "relatively" higher, and non-ant insect variety more abundant, as these areas typically encounter more summer rainfall. Platyrhinos are typically a west of the rockies and extreme southwestern species, more abundant in places like the mojave.

I would advise caution ( and try in small numbers first ) any genera other than Pogonomyrmex, or other ant species native to the SW United States, which Phrynosoma are KNOWN to forage on. Some genera of eastern ants have been known to cause death in young HLs in captivity, possibly due to release of volatile organic compounds, such as ketone based alarm pheremones.

Again, the best advice I could give you other than trying to find a source of imported Pogonomyrmex, is to use a very similar seed and plant harvester genera such as Messor, or possibly a species such as L. niger, which has been tested by long term keepers of Phrynosoma in Europe. You may want to find some other keepers, but understand that most are going to have platyrhinos, and it would benefit you to find someone with cornutum that has been maintained in good health for at least a year or more on European fare. I have a lot of experience with cornutum, but only on ant species native to the US.








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