''Myrmica rubra'', also known as the common red ant or erroneously the European fire ant, is a species of ant of the genus '' Myrmica'', found all over Europe and is now invasive in some parts of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the C ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. It is mainly red in colour, with slightly darker pigmentation on the head. These ants live under stones and fallen trees, and in soil. They are aggressive, often attacking rather than running away, and are equipped with a stinger, though they lack the ability to spray

formic acid Formic acid (), systematically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid, and has the chemical formula HCOOH and structure . It is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some ants. Es ...

like the genus ''

Formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type species of genus ''For ...

''. This species is very similar to '' M. ruginodis'', but ''M. rubra'' is the commoner of the two. The larvae of the butterflies ''

Phengaris alcon ''Phengaris alcon'', the Alcon blue or Alcon large blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae and is found in Europe and across the Palearctic to Siberia and Mongolia. Description from Seitz ''L. alcon'' Schiff. (= areas Esp., ''euphemu ...

'' (Alcon blue) and '' P. teleius'' (scarce large blue) use ''M. rubra'' as their primary host.

Distribution and habitat

This is one of the most common and widespread ''Myrmica'' species of the

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

. It occurs in the region stretching from Portugal to East Siberia (as far as Transbaikalia), and from northern Greece to the forest-tundra zone in the North. It is also colonizing

, where it is considered a

pest species A pest is any animal or plant harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environ ...

. These ants are very common in Europe and the UK and live in meadows and gardens. They live on a diet of honeydew excreted by

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A ...

s and feed on many types of insect and other invertebrates. They will attack any creature that disturbs their nest, but are not as aggressive as the

red imported fire ant The red imported fire ant (''Solenopsis invicta''), also known as the fire ant or RIFA, is a species of ant native to South America. A member of the genus '' Solenopsis'' in the subfamily Myrmicinae, it was described by Swiss entomologist Fel ...

. They also consume

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametoph ...

, a phenomenon rarely documented in ants of the temperate zone.

Behavior

This ant's colonies have a

polygyne The gyne (, from Greek γυνή, "woman") is the primary reproductive female caste of social insects (especially ants, wasps, and bees of order Hymenoptera, as well as termites). Gynes are those destined to become queens, whereas female workers a ...

form and can include up to one hundred queens per nest. These queens will have gathered together after their

nuptial flight Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant, termite, and some bee species. It is also observed in some fly species, such as ''Rhamphomyia longicauda''. During the flight, virgin queens mate with males and then land to ...

, formed a nest and laid their eggs in it. The species is also polydomous, with many nest sites per individual colony. The queens can live up to fifteen years. Nuptial flights take place normally in late July to mid-August in Europe. Hundreds of young queens and males take to the air to mate together. Afterwards, the males die and the queens shed their wings to make a new colony. No nuptial flights have been witnessed yet from this species where it is living in

, however male-only mating swarms have been recorded in

Newfoundland, Canada Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. The ants explore the surrounding area around their nest and look for materials, both plant and animal, to feed their colonies. When they find dead bodies, undertakers pick up the dead bodies and quickly carry them away from their nest up to away. They choose locations randomly, and so this species does not create

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bur ...

References

External links

Ant wiki information on ''Myrmica rubra''.Brief report
from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...

on the management of ''Myrmica rubra'' in the U.S., with extensive additional references {{Taxonbar, from=Q650996 Myrmica Hymenoptera of Europe Ants described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus