Black garden ant
Lasius niger
41.5514, -8.42305
Field Notes
Description:
Workers - Lasius niger worker will be dark glossy black and will be around 3-5mm long, as the colony gets older it has been known for workers to increase in size over generations.
Queen - The queen will also be a glossy black colour but will appear to have slight brown stripes on her abdomen. The queen can reach 6-9mm in length and will be smaller as a new queen. When a queen is fertilised she removes her wings and digests her wing muscles as food over the winter.
Drones - Drones are only produced by queens when the nuptial flights are approaching. They appear with a dark glossy body with a different shape to the workers, almost resembling a wasp appearance they have wing muscles which stand out to the rest of the body. They are 5-7mm long and have delicate wings.
Habitat:
The black garden ant (Lasius niger) is a formicine ant, the type species of the subgenus Lasius, found all over Europe and in some parts of North America and Asia. The European species was split into two species; L. niger is found in open areas, while L. platythorax is found in forest habitats.It is monogynous, meaning colonies have a single queen.
Notes:
Spotted in my garden.they where changing the eggs to a new nest,i presume
Comments (9)