The ants love Honey and Sugar water. Their young also eat small insects.
Found in London.
Small Black ant. Sometimes seen farming aphids. Similar to other Lasius ants.
Worker: 3-5mm
Extant: 1 valid subspecies
Formica nigra Linnaeus, 1758 PDF: 580 (w.) [Type-locality Sweden, after Linnaeus, 1761 PDF: 427.] SWEDEN. Palearctic. AntCat AntWiki HOLTaxonomic history
Latreille, 1798 PDF: 39 (q.m.); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1953c PDF: 148 (l.); Hauschteck, 1962 PDF: 219 (k.); Imai & Kubota, 1972 PDF: 196 (k.).Combination in Lasius: Fabricius, 1804 PDF: 415; Mayr, 1861 PDF: 49 (in key).Combination in Donisthorpea: Morice & Durrant, 1915 PDF: 423; Donisthorpe, 1915f: 200.Combination in Formicina (Donisthorpea): Emery, 1916a PDF: 240.Combination in Acanthomyops: Forel, 1916 PDF: 460; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927e PDF: 188.Combination in Formicina: Bondroit, 1918 PDF: 23.Combination in Lasius (Donisthorpea): Nadig, 1918 PDF: 340.Combination in Acanthomyops (Donisthorpea): Ruzsky, 1920 PDF: 78; Kiseleva, 1925 PDF: 74; Betrem, 1926 PDF: 215; Donisthorpe, 1927a PDF: 8; Donisthorpe, 1950e PDF: 1063.Combination in Lasius: Wheeler, 1916o PDF: 172; Ruzsky, 1916: 5; Stitz, 1917 PDF: 349; Menozzi, 1921 PDF: 32; Müller, 1923b PDF: 124; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929a PDF: 26.Combination in Lasius (Lasius): Ruzsky, 1912 PDF: 633; Forel, 1915d: 53; Emery, 1924c PDF: 170; Emery, 1925d PDF: 229; Karavaiev, 1936: 201; Wilson, 1955a PDF: 59.Status as species: Linnaeus, 1761 PDF: 427; Scopoli, 1763 PDF: 313; Linnaeus, 1767 PDF: 962; Fabricius, 1775 PDF: 392; Forskål, 1775: xxiii; Fabricius, 1782: 489; Retzius, 1783 PDF: 75; Geoffroy, in Fourcroy, 1785: 453; Fabricius, 1787 PDF: 308; Razoumowsky, 1789: 225; Christ, 1791 PDF: 510; Olivier, 1792: 492; Fabricius, 1793 PDF: 352; Latreille, 1798 PDF: 39; Fabricius, 1804 PDF: 415; Gravenhorst, 1807 PDF: 287; Latreille, 1809 PDF: 126; Billberg, 1820: 104; Latreille, 1802a PDF: 156; Walckenaer, 1802: 161; Fabricius, 1804 PDF: 415; Latreille, 1817a: 99; Lamarck, 1817 PDF: 96; Stephens, 1829b: 357; Brullé, 1833 PDF: 327; Losana, 1834 PDF: 317; Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, 1835 PDF: 206; Nylander, 1846a PDF: 920; Smith, 1851 PDF: 2; Schenck, 1852 PDF: 49; Mayr, 1855 PDF: 355 (redescription); Smith, 1855a PDF: 109; Nylander, 1856b PDF: 67; Gredler, 1858 PDF: 12; Smith, 1858a PDF: 6, 52; Mayr, 1861 PDF: 49 (in key); Meinert, 1861: 318; Roger, 1863b PDF: 11; Mayr, 1863a PDF: 426; Mayr, 1865 PDF: 55; Emery, 1869b PDF: 9; Smith, 1871c: 1; Dours, 1873 PDF: 165; Smith, 1874b PDF: 403; Forel, 1874 PDF: 46 (in key); André, 1874b (in key); Mayr, 1877a: 6; Emery, 1878a PDF: ix (in list); Emery, 1878: 47; Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 452; Mayr, 1880 PDF: 25; Saunders, 1880 PDF: 208; André, 1882c PDF: 192 (in key); Emery, 1882b PDF: 450; Costa, 1883: 60; White, 1884 PDF: 254; Mayr, 1886d PDF: 429; Forel, 1886h PDF: 206; Cresson, 1887 PDF: 257; Nasonov, 1889: 22; Forel, 1890b PDF: lxvii; Lameere, 1892: 64; Forel, 1892j PDF: 307; Emery, 1892c PDF: 162; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 187; Emery, 1893e PDF: 85; Emery, 1893k PDF: 638; Medina, 1893 PDF: 105; Forel, 1894c PDF: 404; Forel, 1895e PDF: 227; Ruzsky, 1896 PDF: 71; Saunders, 1896 PDF: 25; Forel, 1899b PDF: 127; Forel, 1900h PDF: 269, 285; Wheeler, 1900c PDF: 47; Forel, 1901m PDF: 66; Ruzsky, 1902d PDF: 16; Ruzsky, 1903b PDF: 307; Ruzsky, 1903c PDF: 207; Ruzsky, 1904a PDF: 288; Forel, 1904c PDF: 386; Ruzsky, 1905b: 292; Wheeler, 1906h PDF: 321; Wheeler, 1906j PDF: 352; Wasmann, 1906 PDF: 114 (in key); Santschi, 1908 PDF: 517; Wheeler, 1908i PDF: 622; Bondroit, 1910 PDF: 485; Yano, 1910a PDF: 421; Karavaiev, 1912b PDF: 587; Krausse, 1912c PDF: 165; Stitz, 1914 PDF: 84; Emery, 1914c PDF: 159; Ruzsky, 1914a PDF: 61; Ruzsky, 1914b PDF: 105; Forel, 1915d: 53 (in key); Donisthorpe, 1915f: 200; Ruzsky, 1916: 5; Stitz, 1917 PDF: 349; Wheeler, 1917a PDF: 524; Emery, 1916a PDF: 240; Escherich, 1917: 332 (in key); Bondroit, 1918 PDF: 23; Nadig, 1918 PDF: 340; Menozzi, 1918 PDF: 87; Santschi, 1919e PDF: 246; Ruzsky, 1920 PDF: 78; Menozzi, 1922c PDF: 331; Kulmatycki, 1922 PDF: 80; Soudek, 1922b PDF: 69; Müller, 1923b PDF: 124; Emery, 1924c PDF: 170; Emery, 1925d PDF: 229; Kiseleva, 1925 PDF: 74; Ruzsky, 1925a PDF: 287; Santschi, 1925f PDF: 88; Santschi, 1925g PDF: 349; Lomnicki, 1925b PDF: 2; Soudek, 1925b PDF: 16; Wheeler, 1926a PDF: 5; Betrem, 1926 PDF: 215; Karavaiev, 1926e PDF: 193; Menozzi, 1926b PDF: 182; Santschi, 1926f PDF: 288; Stärcke, 1926a PDF: 123 (in key); Donisthorpe, 1927a PDF: 8; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 229; Karavaiev, 1927a PDF: 300; Karavaiev, 1927d: 280 (in key); Karavaiev, 1927e PDF: 347; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927e PDF: 188; Menozzi, 1927b PDF: 91; Wheeler, 1927e PDF: 3; Wheeler, 1927g PDF: 118; Lomnicki, 1928 PDF: 8; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1928b PDF: 19; Wheeler, 1928c PDF: 38; Wheeler, 1928d PDF: 120; Wheeler, 1929g PDF: 10; Wheeler, 1929h PDF: 58; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929a PDF: 26; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929b PDF: 37; Karavaiev, 1930b PDF: 147; Wheeler, 1930k PDF: 80; Karavaiev, 1931b PDF: 32; Karavaiev, 1931c PDF: 109; Karavaiev, 1931e PDF: 214; Santschi, 1931a: 10; Soudek, 1931 PDF: 13; Gösswald, 1932 PDF: 53; Santschi, 1932e PDF: 72; Santschi, 1932h PDF: 5; Teranishi, 1932 PDF: 52; Arnol'di, 1933a: 602 (in key); Finzi, 1933 PDF: 165; Santschi, 1933a PDF: 22; Stitz, 1934: 8; Grandi, 1935 PDF: 103; Karavaiev, 1935b PDF: 108; Zimmermann, 1935 PDF: 47; Finzi, 1936 PDF: 191; Karavaiev, 1936: 201 (redescription); Ruzsky, 1936 PDF: 90; Santschi, 1936c PDF: 208; Santschi, 1939c PDF: 5; Kôno & Sugihara, 1939 PDF: 10; Teranishi, 1940: 20; Novák & Sadil, 1941 PDF: 101 (in key); Eidmann, 1941a PDF: 24; Santschi, 1941 PDF: 277; Holgersen, 1943c PDF: 174 (in key); Stärcke, 1944b PDF: 157 (in key); Holgersen, 1944a PDF: 181; Morisita, 1945 PDF: 22; Ruzsky, 1946 PDF: 69; Van Boven, 1947b PDF: 185 (in key); Forsslund, 1947 PDF: 69; Röszler, 1950 PDF: 219; Schmitz, 1950 PDF: 14; Creighton, 1950a PDF: 420; Azuma, 1950a: 35; Azuma, 1951 PDF: 88; Chapman & Capco, 1951 PDF: 202; Consani & Zangheri, 1952 PDF: 44; Azuma, 1953 PDF: 4; Azuma, 1955 PDF: 80; Wellenius, 1955 PDF: 15; Wilson, 1955a PDF: 59 (redescription); Ceballos, 1956: 315; Bernard, 1956b PDF: 261; Smith, 1958c PDF: 148; Bernard, 1959a PDF: 351; Collingwood, 1961a PDF: 71; Collingwood, 1962c PDF: 219; Baroni Urbani, 1964b PDF: 63; Baroni Urbani, 1964c PDF: 165; Cagniant, 1964 PDF: 92; Cagniant, 1966b PDF: 281; Imai, 1966b PDF: 119; Beck et al., 1967: 70; Bernard, 1967a PDF: 355 (redescription); Yarrow, 1967 PDF: 30; Cagniant, 1968a PDF: 146; Kutter, 1968b: 60; Collingwood & Yarrow, 1969 PDF: 78; Pisarski, 1969b: 305; Yamauchi & Hayashida, 1970 PDF: 503; Dlussky & Pisarski, 1970 PDF: 87; Collingwood, 1970b: 380; Cagniant, 1970c PDF: 38; Baroni Urbani, 1971c PDF: 205; Collingwood, 1971 PDF: 165; Banert & Pisarski, 1972 PDF: 353; Bourne, 1973 PDF: 24; Baroni Urbani, 1974a PDF: 238; Bolton & Collingwood, 1975: 7 (in key); Hunt & Snelling, 1975 PDF: 22; Pisarski, 1975: 33; Tarbinsky, 1976 PDF: 134 (redescription); Collingwood, 1976a PDF: 305; Azuma, 1977a PDF: 117; Van Boven, 1977 PDF: 144; Kutter, 1977c: 227; Yensen et al., 1977 PDF: 184; Arnol'di & Dlussky, 1978: 555 (in key); Báez & Ortega, 1978: 189; Collingwood, 1978 PDF: 89 (in key); Collingwood, 1979 PDF: 99; Francoeur & Snelling, 1979 PDF: 6; Smith, 1979: 1436; Yamauchi, 1979 PDF: 152; Onoyama, 1980a PDF: 199; Barquín, 1981: 448; Pisarski & Krzysztofiak, 1981 PDF: 160; Schembri & Collingwood, 1981 PDF: 439; Collingwood, 1981 PDF: 27; Allred, 1982: 481; Collingwood, 1982 PDF: 287; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a PDF: 58; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b PDF: 282 (in key); Nilsson & Douwes, 1987: 70; MacKay et al., 1988: 118; Kupyanskaya, 1990a: 219; Casevitz-Weulersse, 1990c PDF: 430; Le Moli & Rosi, 1991: 36; Morisita et al., 1991: 27; Seifert, 1991b PDF: 71; Seifert, 1992b PDF: 27 (redescription); Wang, 1992: 680; Wu & Wang, 1992c PDF: 1312; Hohmann et al., 1993: 163; Arakelian, 1994 PDF: 121; Radchenko, 1994b: 114 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 224; Douwes, 1995: 94; Poldi et al., 1995: 8; Tang et al., 1995: 110; Wu & Wang, 1995a: 153; Espadaler, 1997g PDF: 28; Collingwood & Prince, 1998: 23 (in key); Gallé et al., 1998: 216; Collingwood & Heatwole, 2002 PDF: 12; Czechowski et al., 2002 PDF: 100; Mackay & Mackay, 2002 PDF: 384; Zhang & Zheng, 2002 PDF: 219; Karaman & Karaman, 2003 PDF: 54; Lin & Wu, 2003: 61; Csosz & Markó, 2005 PDF: 227; Karaman & Karaman, 2005 PDF: 57; Ward, 2005 PDF: 64; Bračko, 2006 PDF: 149; Markó et al., 2006 PDF: 68; Petrov, 2006 PDF: 69, 107 (in key); Schultz et al., 2006 PDF: 205; Bračko, 2007 PDF: 20; Seifert, 2007: 274; Werner & Wiezik, 2007 PDF: 154; Zryanin & Zryanina, 2007 PDF: 234; Gratiashvili & Barjadze, 2008 PDF: 136; Casevitz-Weulersse & Galkowski, 2009 PDF: 484; Lapeva-Gjonova et al., 2010 PDF: 39; Boer, 2010: 43; Csosz et al., 2011 PDF: 58; Karaman, 2011a PDF: 88; Legakis, 2011 PDF: 27; Borowiec & Salata, 2012 PDF: 503; Czechowski et al., 2012: 253; Guénard & Dunn, 2012 PDF: 33; Kiran & Karaman, 2012 PDF: 13; Bharti & Gul, 2013a PDF: 57 (in key); Borowiec, 2014 PDF: 88 (see note in bibliography); Bračko et al., 2014 PDF: 20; Bharti et al., 2016 PDF: 28; Lebas et al., 2016: 220; Radchenko, 2016: 360; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c 10.5281/zenodo.2199191 PDF: 46; Schär et al., 2018 10.1111/jbi.13380 PDF: 6; Seifert, 2018: 273; Seifert, 2020 10.25674/so92iss1pp15 PDF: 63.Senior synonym of Lasius alienoniger: Wilson, 1955a PDF: 59; Bernard, 1967a PDF: 355; Baroni Urbani, 1971c PDF: 206; Van Boven, 1977 PDF: 144; Kutter, 1977c: 14; Smith, 1979: 1436; Yamauchi, 1979 PDF: 152; Onoyama, 1980a PDF: 199; Arakelian, 1994 PDF: 122; Bolton, 1995b: 224; Radchenko, 2016: 360.Senior synonym of Lasius emeryi: Wilson, 1955a PDF: 59; Smith, 1979: 1436; Bolton, 1995b: 224.Senior synonym of Lasius minimus: Wilson, 1955a PDF: 59; Smith, 1979: 1436; Bolton, 1995b: 224.Senior synonym of Lasius nigerrimus: Emery, 1892c PDF: 162; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 188; Donisthorpe, 1915f: 200; Emery, 1925d PDF: 230; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 229; Karavaiev, 1936: 202; Bolton, 1995b: 224; Radchenko, 2016: 360.Senior synonym of Lasius nitidus: Wilson, 1955a PDF: 59; Smith, 1979: 1436; Bolton, 1995b: 224.Senior synonym of Lasius pallescens: Roger, 1859 PDF: 238; Mayr, 1861 PDF: 49 (in key); Mayr, 1863a PDF: 425; Roger, 1863b PDF: 11; Mayr, 1865 PDF: 55; André, 1874c (in list); Emery & Forel, 1879 PDF: 452; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 189; Donisthorpe, 1915f: 200; Emery, 1925d PDF: 230; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 229; Karavaiev, 1936: 202; Baroni Urbani, 1971c PDF: 205; Bolton, 1995b: 224; Radchenko, 2016: 360.Senior synonym of Lasius transylvanicus: Wilson, 1955a PDF: 59; Smith, 1979: 1436; Bolton, 1995b: 224.
