Ant keeping as a hobby is growing rapidly, raising welfare questions about the conditions provided for highly complex social insect colonies.
Ant colonies in incorrectly maintained formicaria decline through dehydration of brood, mould growth from excessive humidity, queen mortality from temperature fluctuation and worker loss from inadequate foraging space. The welfare of millions of individual ants in a failed colony represents significant harm, even accounting for uncertainty about individual ant sentience. Colony health in well-designed formicaria demonstrates that adequate care is achievable with appropriate knowledge.