Harvester ant is a 1-star species card from the Bronze Age. Harvester ants collect and store seeds in underground granaries.
Bonus by grade
| Grade | Copies needed | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 0 | +8% Food cap |
| Uncommon | 2 | +14.4% Food cap |
| Rare | 5 | +24% Food cap |
| Epic | 10 | +36% Food cap |
| Legendary | 20 | +56% Food cap |
Duplicates raise the grade: Uncommon at 2, Rare at 5, Epic at 10, Legendary at 20.
Codex
- Common: Messor barbarus lives around the Mediterranean.
- Uncommon: Big-headed workers crack seeds open.
- Rare: Seeds are stored dry in granary chambers.
- Epic: Workers sometimes make a 'bread' of chewed seed.
- Legendary: They mostly eat the seeds they collect, but a few dropped along the way may sprout.
Field notes are reviewed regularly. Spot something wrong? Tell us.
Field guide
| Size | Workers vary greatly, from small minors to big-headed majors |
| Colony | On average about 8,000 workers |
| Queens | Not well known |
| Nest | Dug tunnels with dry seed chambers and a separate moist brood area |
| Diet | Seeds, especially of grasses such as ryegrass |
| Defence | Workers fight fiercely when colonies meet; venom-gland chemicals raise the alarm |
| Active | Forages mostly May to mid-October; inactive about November to April |
| Lifespan | Not well known |
| Where it lives | Spain, France, Italy and North Africa, on dry slopes, meadows and farmland |
Did you know?
- Colonies sometimes steal seeds from colonies of Tapinoma ants.
- Foragers lay scent trails up to about 30 m long to seed depots.
- Medium-sized workers do most of the trail laying and foraging.
Sources: antcube.shop, ant-shack.com, antwiki.org, en.wikipedia.org, link.springer.com
Codex sets
- Ants of the metal ages: Leafcutter ant, Harvester ant, Weaver ant, Army ant, Trap-jaw ant, Carpenter ant, Fire ant, Banded sugar ant, Acrobat ant, Citronella ant, Silky ant, Tawny crazy ant, Blood-red ant, Inchman, Golden-tailed spiny ant, Black-headed sugar ant, Rock ant
Queen affinity
- Black garden ant: ×1.1 chance
- Meat ant: ×1 chance
- Bull ant: ×1 chance