the Extraordinary Lives of Black Garden Ants and Their Role in Maintaining Healthy Gardens

Black garden ants, scientifically known as Lasius niger, are among the most common and widely distributed ant species in Europe and North America. These small, dark-colored insects are often overlooked, but they play a vital role in the intricate web of life within our gardens.

What are black garden ants?

Ants are social, ubiquitous insects that have existed for millions of years. The black garden ant, or the Lasius niger, is perhaps the most common ant in the United Kingdom. They are particularly well known to gardeners and households. There are three types of ants: the workers, the queen and the males. The former are females that have no babies of their own. They only help raise the young, their sisters, produced by their sole mother, the queen.

Lasius niger is a monogynous species which means colonies have only one queen. Workers are about 3-5 mm in size and dark brown in color, while the queen is twice bigger and is colored black. The queen is highly prolific, having a colony with as much as 15,000 workers.

Despite their diminutive size, black garden ants are remarkable creatures with complex social structures and fascinating behaviors. They live in colonies consisting of a queen, male drones, and female workers, each fulfilling specific roles to ensure the smooth functioning of their underground kingdoms.

Worker ants tirelessly forage for food, communicating their findings to their nestmates through intricate chemical trails. They feed on a variety of substances, including nectar, honeydew secreted by aphids, and small insects, thus contributing to the natural balance of the garden ecosystem.

In addition to their foraging activities, black garden ants serve as essential ecosystem engineers. Their extensive tunneling and nest-building activities aerate the soil, improving its structure and drainage. This, in turn, promotes the growth of healthy plant roots and the overall well-being of the garden.

Where do Black Garden Ants live?

Lasius niger exists all over Europe, most abundantly in United Kingdom. It can also be found in some parts of North America and Asia. It is a metropolitan species. It thrives in urban, sub-urban, and rural areas. As it name implies, its colonies are found in gardens and orchards, normally beneath soil, bushes, edges of lawns, and pavements. Furthermore, black garden ants create large nests (mostly subterranean) with broad tunnels for extended habitat and easy transport of food.

What do Black Garden Ants eat?

Black garden ants are omnivorous. When they find food such as small insects, invertebrates, fruit seeds, honeydew, and flower nectars, they transfer these to their nest to be shared by the colony. They love feeding on sugary substances, including ripe fruit, especiallysoft fruits.

Black garden ants engage in fascinating mutualistic relationships with other organisms. They tend to aphids, protecting them from predators in exchange for the sweet honeydew they produce. This relationship not only benefits the ants but also helps regulate aphid populations, preventing them from causing excessive damage to plants.

Interesting Garden Ant facts

• The irritant substance in the sting of ants that causes red inflammations in the skin is formic acid, or methanoic acid.
• If you want to eat ants (highly nutritious and high in protein), you have to cook them for at least 6 minutes, so that the formic acid is broken down, otherwise the taste will be rather bitter.
• The queen normally mates with a male ant during summer months.
• Lasius niger queens can live up to 12 years.
• Male ants die 1-2 days after mating with the queen.
• Ants can carry objects 50 times their body weight.

Activity

Find a colony of garden ants. Watch them coming and going and see what they take back to their nest. Just be careful not to disturb them!

By understanding the ecological significance of black garden ants, we can appreciate their presence in our gardens and recognize them as valuable allies rather than pests. Observing their behavior and interactions provides a glimpse into the intricate web of life that thrives beneath our feet.

So, the next time you spot a trail of black garden ants marching through your garden, take a moment to marvel at their remarkable lives and the crucial role they play in maintaining the delicate balance of nature.