Neoponera villosa is a neotropical species that ranges from Argentina, all the way to Texas, US.
They get as big as myrmecia and are friendly pets. As foragers they are quite peaceful.
as feeders, one of their favorites are termite alates and earwigs.
They do not hibernate, i recommend using a lamp that heats up when feeding in winter to wake them up.
as housing they seem to like nests with soil because they can't grip to plastic or glass as well as other ants, they also like terraforming their nests depending on the brood stage they are housing.
for an out world i recommend a vertical setup with branches an logs to climb, but the entrance hole most be on the floor. Recent studies on ponerine venom show that when these ants nest in the ground their venom becomes milder because living in a tree implies more predators and fiercer competence. Most of us might know acrobat ants or Azteca ants, they re both very aggresive.
At their founding stage the queen will perform semi claustral behaviors so i recommend getting a pair of queens. One of them (usually the one that mated with less males) will be nominated the "inferior queen" and will be the most aggressive queen.
Colonies of these ants can have about seven queens, introduced in different times, if you re going to introduce a new queen i suggest covering the nest from any light so that they can determine her rank. When not covered, the queen will fight with the other queen of her same rank.
if you feed them live prey, every time you show up they will open their mandibles and pounce at every thing that moves
queens are usually found in or near trees or logs
their sting feel electrocuting followed by intense pain. X6 a bee sting in summer
