List of Ants of Great Britain - Formicinae

Formicinae

Waist with a single segment called the petiole. Gaster with five segments visible from above in females (workers and queens).Sting absent. Anal aperture pointed and fringed with hairs.

• Camponotus sp., carpenter ants *
• Formica aquilonia, northern wood ant – A wood ant building tall, conical, thatched mound nests. Found in the highlands of Scotland with a few records from Ireland. Not found in England.
• Formica cunicularia – A large ant often with some reddish parts quite common in parts of southern England. Nests in small earth mounds.
• Formica exsecta – A large ant with a deeply excised head found in Devon and highlands of Scotland. Nests in small thatched mounds.
• Formica fusca – A large black ant common in southern Britain.
• Formica lemani – Very similar to F. fusca, but hairier and found in more northerly and westerly areas.
• Formica lugubris, hairy wood ant – Very similar to F. rufa but with a more northerly distribution. Much more tolerant of shade than F. rufa or F. aquilonia, so often found in denser, commercial forests.
• Formica picea, black bog ant – Rare shiny black ant. Nests in tussocks in marshy ground in the New Forest, Dorset and in Glamorganshire, South Wales. Formerly known as Formica candida and before that as Formica transkaucasica.
• Formica pratensis – A wood ant probably now extinct in England. Last seen in Dorset. Still found on the Scilly Isles.
• Formica rufa, red or southern wood ant – A large ant. It builds large thatched mounds in open woodland.
• Formica rufibarbis – A large rare ant found in a few{fact} southern sites and the Scilly Isles. Looks similar to F. cunicularia.
• Formica sanguinea, blood-red slave-maker ant – Redder than the other Formica species. Faculative dulote. It makes slaves of other formicine species, most usually of Formica fusca.
• Lasius alienus – A small black ant found in chalky grassland.
• Lasius brunneus, brown tree ant – A small fugitive bi-coloured ant nesting in trees, especially old oak trees. Found in woods and parkland.
• Lasius emarginatus – A small bi-coloured continental species previously found in the Channel Isles but not the mainland. A colony was discovered in London in 2008.
• Lasius flavus, yellow meadow ant – A very common yellow ant. It builds large earthen mounds that last many years in undisturbed grassland. It can also be found nesting under stones and in garden lawns. It lives mostly underground and is not often seen on the surface.
• Lasius fuliginosus, jet black ant – Large shiny black ant with heart shaped head. It nests in tree stumps and hedgerows and has a patchy distribution. Fertilised queens start colonies through adoption by L. Mixtus and L. umbratus.
• Lasius meridionalis – A yellow subterranean ant found in lowland sandy heaths. Fertilised queens start colonies through adoption by Lasius alienus.
• Lasius mixtus – A yellow subterranean ant nesting deep in the ground among shrub roots and under deep boulders, but occasionally also constructs mounds of fine loose soil. Fertilised queens start colonies through adoption by Lasius alienus, L. niger or L. brunneus nests.
• Lasius neglectus * invasive garden ant – A small brown ant that forms super colonies in parks and gardens. First found in Gloucestershire in 2009. Likely to spread.
• Lasius niger, black garden ant – Common in towns nesting under paving stones and in gardens, it also constructs mounds of loose soil in fields.
• Lasius platythorax – Looks very similar to Lasius niger from which it was recently split but nests in cooler damper places. Does not work the earth but typically nests in dead wood.
• Lasius psammophilus – Very similar to Lasius alienus from which it was recently split. Found in sandy areas.
• Lasius sabularum – A yellow subterranean ant.
• Lasius umbratus – A yellow subterranean ant nesting under boulders, in tree stumps and at the base of old trees. Fertilised queens start colonies through adoption by Lasius alienus, L. niger or L. brunneus nests.
• Paratrechina vividula *
• Paratrechina longicornis *