List Of Ants Of Great Britain

This is a list of ants of Great Britain, including endemic and introduced species. Compared with much of the rest of Europe, Great Britain has a smaller number of ants. The size and diversity of ant species in any area is largely determined by the highest summer soil temperature, and this being so, it is not surprising that the greatest concentration of different species is centred in the warmer parts of the country – Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, the Isle of Wight and Kent being the 5 richest counties, with 33, 31, 29, 27 and 26 different species present respectively.

A few species, best exemplified by ''Lasius niger'', are truly cosmopolitan, colonising a great variety of different habitats (often including those directly resultant from human activities). These species are very common in most places, and have ranges that cover most of the nation.

The larger part of Great Britain's ant species are, however, considerably more specialised in their requirements. Most independent species are found on undisturbed heathland in the south – probably as a direct result of its superior summer soil temperatures – and six are entirely dependent on other species during their mature life (i.e. not simply to found colonies, a requirement of many further species).

Many of the lesser seen species are at the northern extent of their range in Britain, and for this reason are confined to the south.
The variously differing biotopes afforded by parkland / partially wooded heath and larger traditional style gardens are also inhabited by a number of otherwise more heathland-pigeonholed species, such as ''Formica fusca/lemani'', ''Lasius mixtus/umbratus'' and ''L. fuliginosus''.

The remaining species are mostly sylvan. These include the well known wood ants, typified by the southerly inclined ''Formica rufa'', and the more northerly ''F. lugubris'' and ''F. aquilonia''. These large, noticeable species abide in mounds constructed from leaf litter, which are still a common sight in many older forests and broken woodland up and down the country. A few other smaller, less easily spotted species also make their livings in conjunction with more wooded areas. ''Stenamma'' species, ''Leptothorax acervorum and Temnothorax nylanderi'' can be found, locality permitting, under stones/logs and beneath loose bark respectively, in established woods. The former habitat is also shared by the rather locally distributed ''Ponera coarctata'', one of two unambiguously native British representatives of the subfamily Ponerinae. The other is the recently discovered ''P. testacea'', which inhabits xerothermic sites.

The list largely follows Skinner & Allen's ''Naturalists' Handbooks 24 : Ants'' published in 1996, though there have been some additions and corrections. Introduced species are marked with an asterisk (*).

Dolichoderinae

Waist with a single segment called the petiole. Gaster with four segments visible from above in females (workers and queens). Sting absent. Anal aperture flattened with a hairless horizontal slit.
*''Linepithema humile'', Argentine ant *
*''Tapinoma erraticum'', erratic ant – A small black ant found in southern Britain nesting in heathland. Notable for its solaria.
*''Tapinoma subboreale'' – A small black ant found in southern Britain nesting in heathland. Previously known as ''Tapinoma ambiguum'' and then briefly as ''Tapinoma madeirense''.
*''Tapinoma melanocephalum'' *

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 in the late 1980s. Still found on the Channel Islands in Jersey and Guernsey.
*''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 small number of sites in southern England 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

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