Lasius umbratus workers are yellowish and rarely seen due to their underground habits. Unlike the common yellow ant Lasius flavus (Fabricius), L. umbratus workers have numerous erect hairs on their scapes and tibia. Queens are reddish brown and have heads that are broader than the maximum width of the alitrunk. Males are brownish black and have denticulate mandibles.

Lasius niger is a small brown to dark brownish black ant that is common in gardens and if not our commonest ant is certainly the one people are most familiar with. Scapes and tibia have erect hairs. The clypeus has dense pubescence.

The ‘common black ant’ frequently referred to as Lasius niger is in fact two discrete species with different morphology and ecology - L. niger and L. platythorax Siefert 1992. This was first recognised in Seifert, 1991. The use of L. niger in the wide sense is so well ingrained that all records should be put to… Read more

Lasius meridionalis is a rare, small yellow ant superficially similar to the common L. flavus (Fabricius). It can be difficult to separate it from the similar L. mixtus (Nylander), L. sabularum (Bondroit) and L. umbratus (Nylander). It is a temporary social parasite.

Lasius mixtus workers are small and yellowish. The petiole is low with an emarginate dorsal border. There are no standing hairs on scapes or front tibia and body hairs are shorter than L. flavus (Fabricius). Queens are brownish black with head about as broad as alitrunk. Males are brownish black with weakly dentated mandibles.

Lasius neglectus, the invasive garden ant, is a small brown ant, superficially similar in appearance and behaviour to the common black garden ant Lasius niger (L.). Unlike L. niger, which is monogynous (each nest with a single queen) and has adjacent nests that compete with one another, L. neglectus is polygynous (each nest has many queens) and has adjacent nests that do not compete with each other. This ant probably originated from Asia Minor or Turkey (Seifert, 2000) and is thought to have been introduced into Europe with horticultural materials (… Read more

Lasius flavus is a small yellow ant best known for its long lasting mounds in undisturbed grassland and meadows.

Lasius alienus is a small brown to dark brownish ant. The scapes and tibia have no erect hairs.

Until Seifert (1992) split this species, small brown to dark brownish Lasius ants with no erect hairs on the scapes and tibia were recorded as Lasius alienus (Foerster). Early records which could be either Lasius alienus or L. psammophilus Seifert, and which have not been re-examined should be denoted Lasius alienus agg. There is now a third dark Lasius species with no standing hairs on the scapes and tibia recognised in Britain… Read more

BWARS has not yet produced an account for this species.

Read about recent records of this species in Britain here.

We plan to complete the process of producing accounts for all British and Irish species eventually. Meanwhile, on this page you can find at least a provisional distribution map, any images BWARS has procured for the species and a list of known synonyms (names previously applied to this species). The work of mapping aculeate Hymenoptera, plus describing their life histories, is the major activity that BWARS… Read more

This species closely resembles several other small Sphecodes species and is best identified from characters of the male genitalia.