Black-backed meadow ant  (Formica pratensis)

Learn about the scientific name of this species and how it fits into the tree of life at Nature Navigator.

Biology

As this ant has always been rare in Britain, little is known about its life cycle. It is known that the 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.

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