Life in a black ants nest

While working in the garden I accidentally disturbed a black ant nest on the rockery. This exposed a couple of chambers where ant larvae and cocoons were stored. The nest was beneath a rock a favourite site for ant nests because the rock absorbs the suns heat. This is why they also nest under garden paths and patios.

Tiny ant larvae

Worker ants swarmed around the nest to look for the intruder and protect the nest while others speedily picked up the larvae and cocoons and carried them deeper under ground.

These tiny ant larvae will be fed by the workers and grow rapidly if plenty of food is available. As well as protecting the larvae, the worker ants keep them clear and healthy.

Eventually the developing larvae will spin a cocoon while they change (metamorphosis) into worker ants.

If you look closely near the centre of the picture you will notice a much larger stage larvae which has been brought to the chamber so it can spin a cocoon.

Later in the year new queens and males will be produced who will leave the nest on a mating flight and the survivors will start colonies elsewhere. See below for a link to a mating flight last year, from a different black ants nest in the front garden.

http://urbanwildlifejottings.blogspot.com/2010/07/ant-mating-flight.html

Ants are fascinating to watch and one of the most interesting insects you can find in your garden.

Ant mating flight

Ants are one of the most fascinating insects you may find in your garden. Today was a humid evening, ideal flying conditions for the ant mating flight. For some time now, winged queens and males have been present in the underground nests of the black ant. The worker ants have been preventing them from leaving, waiting for the right conditions.

                                  Entrance to the underground nest

The queens are released first, which often climb up to the highest points, a wall, gate post, vegetation, before launching themselves into the air.

Winged queen

Then the smaller males are released. The goal being to catch and mate with a female and in theory only the strongest males catch up and mate with a queen.

Queen and smaller male mating

After the mating flight the queen comes back to the ground and discards her wings, as they will no longer be needed.

She will quickly seek out a suitable place to dig a tunnel and start a new colony. Once the tunnel has been completed a queen will block the entrance and retreat to the bottom. The queen ant then digs out a small chamber, this will serve as the founding chamber of the new colony. Generally a queen will begin to lay eggs immediately after the construction of the chamber, the eggs will hatch after 8-10 weeks.

Of course not all the queens will mate and start new colonies. Many will be eaten by predators such as birds and spiders, becoming trapped in their webs.

                                                     Winged queen ants in spider webs

The males that survive will die a few days after the mating flight having performed their role.

Mating flights usually attract a lot of attention from gulls and other birds who pluck them out of the air or catch them on the ground before they fly. This year, few birds were attracted by the flight. All except this herring gull picking them up up off the road and eating them.

damselflies and black ants

A pleasant morning to I decided to have my morning coffee in the garden and read a few pages. As I got up to go inside I noticed the sloughed remains of a damselfly larvae. When I took a closer look I noticed that the newly hatched adult was hanging onto the foliage lower down.


The adult damselfly was still quite pale, creamy looking, following hatching. The damselflyhad very good eyesight, and reacted to my presence by hiding behind the leaf, even though I was several feet away. I accidentaly disturbed another damselfly, which promptly flew upinto the air. The remains of its larval form was also visible on a nearby plant. I kept an eye on the damselfly during the morning. Throughout the morning it slowly became more colourful. I eventually identified it as a Large Red damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula. It eventually flew off into the garden at 12.15pm.


I did some more gardening, maninly clearing away ready for planting. Too many inverts to mention all. In particular; centipedes, spiders, small black beetle (too quick) a butterfly that also shot through to quick to identify. There appear to be several holly blue butterflies around. There have been at least a pair and a single flying around the tree at the end of our back neighbours garden. It is the only type of blue butterfly in the UK that may be observed in trees.

I did accidentally disturb an black ants nest on the rockery. One of the nursery chambers was beneath a rock I moved. Black ants often have nrsery chambers in such places as the rock warms up as it absorbs the heat of the sun. The larvae and cocoons are moved around the nest to keep them at the right temperature.



As I lifted the rock, ants poured out ready to meet the attacker (me). Another group of worker ants rushed to the larvae and proceded to carry them off underground. Ants have a warning chemical (as do wasps) that galvenises each other into action and makes them aggressive.