Ants

Ant (Common Black Garden)

livelinkadmin — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:44:17 +0000

The Common Black Garden Ant is a small insect that can often be found in gardens and this is why it has the name ‘Garden Ant’. It lives in a big colony called a ‘state’ and thousands of ants can belong to one colony. Each colony has a queen ant that produces eggs and female ‘workers’ that collect food, keep the nest clean and look after the young. A colony also has flying male ants.

The Common Garden Ant has a small head with two antennae, a thorax and an abdomen which is the rear part of the body. The thorax is the middle part of the body which holds three pairs of thin jointed legs. Also between the thorax and the abdomen, the Common Black Garden Ant has a tiny ‘waist’. The queen ant is almost black and is about one and half centimetres long and the workers are brown-black and about four to five millimetres in length. The workers are wingless, but the queen has long transparent wings which she loses late summer. The queen and male flying ants can be seen flying around in July and August.

Common Black Garden Ants build their nests in walls, under stones in soil, under logs and under paving stones in gardens. They take plants, fungi and seeds to the nest to eat, but they especially like to collect honeydew drops produced by plant lice called 'aphids'.

Ant (European Red)

livelinkadmin — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:49:14 +0000

The European Red Ant is a small insect also known as the European Fire Ant. It is an orangy brown colour and not red like its name suggests. It can be found throughout the country, but more of these ants can be seen in the south. It often lives in a nest built under stones, logs, tree stumps and under paving stones in gardens. This ant can be quite aggressive and will sting humans and pets.

The European Red Ant has a body that is divided into three distinct parts: the head, the thorax and the abdomen. The thorax is the middle part of the body which holds three pairs of thin jointed legs. Also between the thorax and the abdomen, the Red Ant has a tiny ‘waist’. It also has two long antennae on the front of its head which bend downwards in the middle.

Red Ants usually live in small colonies consisting of around one hundred to three hundred ants and each colony has a queen ant that produces eggs. Some colonies may have more than one queen. The colony also has female workers and male flying ants. The queen ant is about one centimetre long and the workers are around five millimetres in length. The queen and male flying ants can be seen flying around in August and September after which the queen loses her wings.

Ant (Wood)

livelinkadmin — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:41:08 +0000

The Wood Ant is also known as the ‘southern wood ant’ because it is mainly found in the south of England. It can be found in open woodlands in glades and sometimes on the edges of woodlands in open sunny spots. It lives in a huge colony which can contain over two hundred and fifty thousand ants. A colony can have over a hundred queen ants that produce eggs and thousands of female workers that collect food, keep the nest clean and look after the young.

The Wood Ant is a large reddish coloured ant with a black head and black abdomen. It is about one centimetre long and its body is divided into three distinct parts: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. Its head is small and has two long antennae. The thorax is the middle part of the body which holds three pairs of thin jointed legs. The Wood Ant also has a tiny 'waist' between the thorax and the abdomen.

Wood Ants often build huge dome-like nests near to old tree stumps and the nests can be over a metre in height and over two metres wide. The ants make their nests out of thousands of pine needles, twigs and leaf stalks. Wood Ants are quite aggressive and will bite humans and animals if they feel threatened or if their nests have been disturbed.