''Myrmica rubra'', also known as the common red ant or erroneously the European fire ant, is a species of ant of the genus ''
Myrmica'', found all over
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and is now invasive in some parts of
North America and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
.
It is mainly red in colour, with slightly darker pigmentation on the head. These ants live under stones and fallen trees, and in soil. They are aggressive, often attacking rather than running away, and are equipped with a stinger, though they lack the ability to spray
formic acid like the genus ''
Formica''.
This species is very similar to ''
M. ruginodis'', but ''M. rubra'' is the commoner of the two.
The larvae of the butterflies ''
Phengaris alcon'' (Alcon blue) and ''
P. teleius'' (scarce large blue) use ''M. rubra'' as their primary host.
Distribution and habitat
This is one of the most common and widespread ''Myrmica'' species of the
Palaearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
. It occurs in the region stretching from Portugal to East Siberia (as far as Transbaikalia), and from northern Greece to the forest-tundra zone in the North. It is also colonizing
North America, where it is considered a
pest species
A pest is any animal or plant harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environ ...
.
These ants are very common in Europe and the UK and live in meadows and gardens. They live on a diet of
honeydew excreted by
aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...
s and feed on many types of insect and other invertebrates. They will attack any creature that disturbs their nest, but are not as aggressive as the
red imported fire ant. They also consume
pollen, a phenomenon rarely documented in ants of the temperate zone.
Behavior
This ant's colonies have a
polygyne
The gyne (, from Greek γυνή, "woman") is the primary reproductive female caste of social insects (especially ants, wasps, and bees of order Hymenoptera, as well as termites). Gynes are those destined to become queens, whereas female workers ...
form and can include up to one hundred queens per nest.
These queens will have gathered together after their
nuptial flight
Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant, termite, and some bee species. It is also observed in some fly species, such as '' Rhamphomyia longicauda''.
During the flight, virgin queens mate with males and then land t ...
, formed a nest and laid their eggs in it. The species is also
polydomous
This is a glossary of terms used in the descriptions of ants.
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See also
...
, with many nest sites per individual colony.
The queens can live up to fifteen years. Nuptial flights take place normally in late July to mid-August in Europe. Hundreds of young queens and males take to the air to mate together. Afterwards, the males die and the queens shed their wings to make a new colony. No nuptial flights have been witnessed yet from this species where it is living in
North America,
however male-only mating swarms have been recorded in
Newfoundland, Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
.
The ants explore the surrounding area around their nest and look for materials, both plant and animal, to feed their colonies. When they find dead bodies, undertakers pick up the dead bodies and quickly carry them away from their nest up to away. They choose locations randomly, and so this species does not create
cemeteries.
References
External links
Ant wiki information on ''Myrmica rubra''.Brief report
from the University of Maine
The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
on the management of ''Myrmica rubra'' in the U.S., with extensive additional references
{{Taxonbar, from=Q650996
Myrmica
Hymenoptera of Europe
Ants described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus