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Black-backed meadow ant (Formica pratensis)
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Find out here.Black-backed meadow ant fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Black-backed meadow ant description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Hymenoptera |
| Family | Formicidae |
| Genus | Formica |
The black-backed meadow ant (Formica pratensis) is a large wood ant, and resembles the more common southern wood ant (Formica rufa). The thorax shows some red colouration, but generally this species is much darker than its related species. The abdomen is dark brown to black and the whole insect is covered in fine hairs.
- Size
- Length: 4.5 - 9.5 mm
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Related species
Black-backed meadow ant biology
As this ant has always been rare in Britain, little is known about its life cycle. It is known that the black-backed meadow ants’ nests tend to be isolated from one another and have a single or very few queens. Nest mounds are small in comparison to other species of wood ant, and are constructed from small twigs, grasses and straw. The winged queens and males develop in the nest in early summer, and again, later in August or September.
TopBlack-backed meadow ant range
This ant is widespread across Europe but is declining across the whole of its range. In the UK, the black-backed meadow ant has only been recorded from a small area around Bournemouth and Wareham in Dorset. It has not been seen there since 1988. There is however, a population on a cliff-top site on the Channel Islands.
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Species with a similar range
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You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Black-backed meadow ant habitat
The black-backed meadow ant is a species associated with dry heathland or meadow land that have banks or verges in warm, sunny and sheltered locations.
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Species found in a similar habitat
Black-backed meadow ant status
The black-backed meadow ant is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List (1). It is listed in the Red Data Book 1, as Endangered (not recorded in the UK since 1988, and is presumed extinct).
Black-backed meadow ant threats
Lowland heathlands have been under threat as a habitat for most of the last century. With such a restricted range, the black-backed meadow ant has proved very vulnerable to the loss of its habitat. Urban development around Bournemouth has removed much of the Dorset heath, and encroachment of scrub on the remaining heaths has reduced the amount of suitable ground for nest sites. It is also thought that the invasion of the more competitive southern wood ant (Formica rufa) has contributed to the disappearance of the black-backed wood ant.
TopBlack-backed meadow ant conservation
The black-backed wood ant is listed as a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP), and is included in English Nature’s Species Recovery Programme (SRP). As the ant has not been seen since 1988 on its last recorded site, Morden Bog National Nature Reserve, it may be that it is now extinct as a British species.
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View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
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There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
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The UK Biodiversity Action Plan for this species is available at UK BAP. |
Authentication
Information supplied by English Nature
www.english-nature.org.uk and authenticated by Bryan Pinchen (independent ecologist).
Glossary
- Abdomen
- In arthropods (crustaceans, insects and arachnids) the abdomen is the hind region of the body, which is usually segmented to a degree (but not visibly in most spiders). In crustacea (e.g. crabs) some of the limbs attach to the abdomen; in insects the limbs are attached to the thorax (the part of the body nearest to the head) and not the abdomen. In vertebrates the abdomen is the part of the body that contains the internal organs (except the heart and lungs).
- Thorax
- Part of the body located near the head in animals. In insects, the three segments between the head and the abdomen, each of which has a pair of legs.
References
-
IUCN Red List (April, 2011)
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
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Image credit
Black-backed meadow ants on nest
© Roger Key
Dr Roger Key
Tel: +44 (0) 1845 567 292
key_r_s@yahoo.co.uk
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