red ant Myrmica ruginodis
Of the estimated 11 006 or so described species Sleigh 2003 of ant living throughout the world today Britain has no more than 50 Ants are sun loving creatures and our cooler climate is not suited to many of them however the species we have here are certainly worthy of study Many British ants can only be found in Western and Southern England with Dorset and Hampshire being the most rich in species Perhaps the best known ant to the people of England is Lasius niger the common black garden ant it certainly is known by our gardeners and household owners due to its tendency to enter houses Another common ant found in gardens is Lasius flavus the yellow meadow ant These ants build small mounds in our lawns and are often mistaken for red ants due to their yellow orange colour yet they are no more harmful than their common black cousins It is the most skilled nest builder found in the UK and can also be found in fields and meadows where they build much larger mounds Lasius flavus tend to forage below ground and therefore are not often seen except perhaps when its nest is disturbed or during the annual mating flights Another common British ant are those belonging to the species Formica also known as the wood ant Many of these species build huge mounds from pine needles and other woodland litter on the edge of forest clearings or pathways and can number more than 100 000 members per colony These ants are large aggressive and attack by biting and spraying formic acid very effectively if disturbed The largest ant in the UK is Formica sanguinea and is a slave raider It raids colonies of other Formica species such as Formica fusca and steals their brood taking them back to their own nest where they raise the hatching workers as their own Surprisingly these ants generally do not kill the workers of the nests they raid unless the defending workers try to stop the sanguinea invaders from taking what it wants There are seven species of the Myrmica family found in this country These a
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Keywords: acid, ant, formic, itchy, myrmica, red, ruginodis
