Yellow Meadow Ant | Slide Mouse

Yellow meadow ants live mainly underground so their eye sight is very weak they hunt and move by smell their main food is honeydew a sugar rich sticky liquid which is secreted by aphids living on the grass roots.

Yellow meadow ant. The yellow meadow ant is familiar to us as the common ant that creates anthills in grassland and downland habitats but also appears in our gardens if the grass is not cut too often. Lasius flavus the yellow meadow ant spends most of its time underground. Lasius flavus the yellow meadow ant spends most of its time underground. Instead they are very well adapted to a life beneath the surface.

The workers are around 2 to 3 5 mm in length. The yellow meadow ant is as the name suggests yellowish brown in colour. They prefer not to move out in the open visible to the sun and predators. However it has been known to circulate around human dwelling places.

Yellow meadow ants are a very common in europe. They build a soil dome above the nest which can extend a metre below the ground to help regulate temperature and humidity. They are often mistaken for the red stinging ant. They prefer not to move out in the open visible to the sun and predators.

They build a soil dome above the nest which can extend a metre below the ground to help regulate temperature and humidity. They tend to avoid sunlight and create intricate underground sand soil structures. A number of features distinguish it from other similar species of ant including the fact that the lower sections of the antennae and the tibiae lack hairs. They are very shy and friendly and tend to keep underground aphids.

It is a relatively slow moving and shy ant species that avoids confrontation. The yellow meadow ant is familiar to us as the common ant that creates anthills in grassland and downland habitats but also appears in our gardens if the grass is not cut too often. In their small tunnels they hunt for insects. In lawns of course but also in flower beds vegetable gardens and fields.

This ant actually struggles to sting humans at all. The yellow meadow ant also yellow hill ant formal name lasius flavus is one of the most common ants in central europe and it also occurs in asia and north africa but populations in north america are a different related species lasius brevicornis. You ll find it just about everywhere in urban suburban and grassland areas. The queen is 7 9 mm long males 3 4 mm and workers 2 4 mm.

Occasionally they take animal food insects. Instead they are very well adapted to a life beneath the surface. This type of ant is known for building large anthills and prefers foraging for food underground. Their colour varies from yellow to brown with queen and males being slightly more darkly colored.

The lasius flavus or yellow meadow ant is most common in europe but is also found in asia north africa and eastern north america according to the bbc.