Red ants

Common Red Ant (Myrmica rubra)

Our pile of little crab apples from the 'John Downie' is attracting an ever-changing cast of tiny characters, all nibbling on the goodness oozing out of the slowly decaying fruits. Among the visitors the other day were a handful of Common Red Ants (Myrmica rubra), the only ants we've identified in the garden so far. Part of that is because they're the only ants that have stood still long enough to get their pictures taken! As their name suggests, these ants are primarily red, though sometimes slightly darker on the head. Males (which exist only to mate) are a bit darker than females. They're among Britain's commonest ant species, widespread across the islands. Elsewhere, they're found throughout Europe and into northern Asia, and have been accidentally introduced to North Africa and eastern North America. These are "rancher ants"; they find and guard aphids, protecting them in return for the honeydew the aphids excrete. They also drink nectar and eat pollen, and feed on small invertebrates. Unlike some ants, these don't make "mounds". Instead, they locate their colonies in damp places: under stones, walls or tree stumps, along tree roots, in decaying logs, etc. These colonies can be sizeable, often with multiple queens and multiple nests. Most inhabitants are female; males emerge only from mid-August to mid-September for nuptial flights with new queens. We've unintentionally disturbed a colony or two a few times while gardening, fortunately not with any bad results. That's good; in North America, they're known as "European Fire Ant" because of their painful sting.