This species is one of the first bees to appear in the spring, with individuals regularly found in early March in southern England. Andrena praecox (Scopoli) frequently flies with this species. As with most of these early species, foraging flights are made almost exclusively to sallow catkins.

Bees of the genus Colletes, in common with those of the genus Hylaeus, are readily identified by their short, bifid tongues. They look superficially similar to many of the Andrena bees. Some species specialise on pollen from a specific plant or closely related group of plants (oligolectic). Identification keys and general information are given in Guichard (1974).

Workers of this species look superficially like the common black garden ant Lasius niger, but can be distinguished in the field by their behaviour when disturbed. On warm days the small black workers (2.6-4.2 mm) dart around very quickly and aggressively with their gasters slightly raised. Under magnification they completely lack the standing body and appendage hairs of L. niger, the petiole node is also inconspicuous and overhung by the first gastral segment also workers and gynes lack a conical hair-fringed acidopore at the tip of the gaster (instead there is a simple… Read more

Aptly named a ‘thief ant’, S. fugax preys on the brood of larger ants. It is seldom seen above ground.The aggressive yellow or brownish-yellow workers are small (1.5-3.0mm long), but the blackish brown females and black males are considerably larger (6.0-6.5mm and 4.0-4.8mm, respectively) (Collingwood 1979). S. fugax is the sole representative of its genus in Britain.

Together with all but one of the ants previously included in Leptothorax (Myrafant), this species is now placed in Temnothorax (Bolton 2003). Queens and the small pale yellow to yellowish-brown workers are immediately distinguishable from other British and Channel Islands Temnothorax species by having antennal clubs the same colour as the rest of the antennae. The workers are also distinguishable by their possession of a mesopropodeal furrow - seen in profile as a depression on the dorsal surface of the alitrunk separating the mesonotum and propodeum. Individuals… Read more

This species previously included in the genus Leptothorax (Myrafant) is now placed in the genus Temnothorax (Bolton 2003). The small brownish-yellow workers of T. unifasciatus may be distinguished from those of the three similar British and Channel Islands species - T. albipennis, T. interruptus and T. nylanderi - by their possession of a clearly-defined, continuous dark band across the first gastral tergite.

One of the mound-building ‘wood ants’ (Formica s. str.), F. pratensis has always been the least frequently recorded species of this group in Britain. The confused nomenclature of the four British representatives of this group, and the morphological distinctions between them, have been considered by Yarrow (1955). In Europe, two forms of F. pratensis may be recognised (Kutter 1977; Seifert 1996). Although these have been treated as separate species (F. pratensis and F. nigricans) by some authors, Bolton (1995) and Seifert (1996) include them both… Read more

Previously known as Leptothorax interruptus this species is now placed in Temnothorax (Bolton 2003). Although widely distributed in Europe, this ant is nowhere common. The small, brownish-yellow workers may be distinguished from those of the three similar British and Channel Islands species - T. albipennis, T. nylanderi and T. unifasciatus - by their combination of relatively long and typically incurved pronotal spines, darkened antennal clubs, and the possession of a dark band, interrupted in the middle, on the first gastral tergite.

Formica lugubris, F. aquilonia, F. rufa and F. pratensis comprise a group of morphologically similar British species which are commonly referred to as 'wood ants'. Only F. lugubris and F. aquilonia are recorded from both Britain and Ireland, whilst F. pratensis is now presumed to be extinct on the mainland, but remains in the Channel Islands. The nomenclature of these species, and the morphological distinctions between them, have been considered by Yarrow (1955).