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Originally Posted by Jason Claxton  It would be a better record than mine then.As the majority are found near Southern Wood ants near me.I'm guessing that you know the area around you very well and that you haven't overlooked any Wood ants.The Ladybirds of Surrey by Roger D.Hawkins has just one record of C.magnifica away from Formica rufa ,here it was seen with the aphids tended by Formica sanguinea,I must admit that I do not know much about which species of ants are present near you.I do agree that from the pattern of the spots underneath that it is a Scarce 7-spot though,interesting indeed Janet  |
I think I would recognise wood ants if I saw them Jason, I don't go rummaging in the woods around me but I have just about everything come to my garden anyway. I think I have 5 different species of ants, not easy to give a name to them but Lasius niger I know I have, a yellow ant I found in the grass when digging the pond which could be Lasius flavus, and a small reddish one which looked different to L. niger. There's a big one I think is Formica fusca. Then I have an unusual orange one which runs around the pond and likes to eat other ants (I have pics of one carrying a damaged one!), another similar I got pics of which has a paler pattern on the abdomen.
Maybe I should put them on a thread sometime, no-one seems to be able to confirm the ID but I could put them on BWARS group which is where I had confirmation of L. niger, they have an ant expert.
