woodland fuzzy ant

(Lasius americanus)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

 
woodland fuzzy ant
Photo by Alfredo Colon
 
Description

Woodland fuzzy ant is a common, small, brown ant. It occurs throughout the United States and southern Canada, but it is mostly absent from the Great Plains, the Great Basin, and the desert southwest. It is found mostly in forests but occasionally also in bogs and other wetlands. It nests in soil and under rotten logs and stumps. It rarely nests in deep leaf litter. When in wetlands it nests in peat.

Woodland fuzzy ant was previously considered the same as the cornfield ant of Europe. It is now believed that the North American ants represent a unique species, and that the cornfield ant is restricted to Europe. Another common name for this species is American cornfield ant.

Workers are medium brown to dark brown and 116 to (2.2 to 4.3 mm) in length. The head and body are covered with short hairs (setae) which give the ant a grayish or silvery sheen.

The compound eyes are large. The simple eyes (ocelli) are very small, not obvious. The antennae have 12 segments. The first segment (scape) has numerous appressed setae, but no erect setae, and no decumbent setae except at the very tip.

The thorax has three segments. The first segment of the abdomen (propodeum) is fused to the thorax, making the thorax appear to have four segments. The propodeum is pyramidal in shape. It has fewer appressed setae overall. It has just a few erect setae and these are near the base. The rear face of the propodeum is obviously longer than the upper (dorsal) face.

The legs are pale and translucent.

 

Size

Total length: 116 to (2.2 to 4.3 mm)

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

Mostly in forests but occasionally also in bogs and other wetlands

Biology

Season

 

 

Behavior

 

 

Life Cycle

 

 

Larva Food

 

 

Adult Food

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30 80, 82.

Guénard, B., Weiser, M., Gomez, K., Narula, N., Economo, E.P. (2017) The Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics (GABI) database: a synthesis of ant species geographic distributions. Myrmecological News 24: 83-89.

1/13/2025    
     

Occurrence

 

Taxonomy

Order

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)

Suborder

Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)

Infraorder

Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps)

Superfamily

Formicoidea (ants)

Family

Formicidae (ants)

Subfamily

Formicinae

Tribe

Lasiini

Genus

Lasius (citronella ants, fuzzy ants, and allies)

Subgenus

Lasius

   

This species was originally described in 1983 as Lasius niger americanus, a subspecies of turfgrass ant. In 1945 it was raised to species status as Lasius americanus. In 1950 it was treated as Lasius alienus americanus, a subspecies of cornfield ant. In 1955 it was made a synonym of Lasius alienus. The last two moves have not been widely accepted. Most sources currently treat this species as Lasius americanus and consider Lasius alienus to be restricted to Europe.

BugGuide, Catalog of Life, NCBI, NatureServe, AntWiki, AntMaps, and iNaturalist use the name Lasius americanus.

Discover Life and ITIS use the name Lasius alienus.

GBIF lists both names without suggesting that either one is a synonym.

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

Lasius alienus americanus

Lasius niger americanus

   

Common Names

American cornfield ant

woodland fuzzy ant

taxonomy2col

Synonyms

 

   

Common Names

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Ocellus

Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.

 

Propodeum

In Hymenoptera: the last segment of the thorax, anatomically the first segment of the abdomen.

 

Scape

In plants: An erect, leafless stalk growing from the rootstock and supporting a flower or a flower cluster. In insects: The basal segment of the antenna.

 

Seta

A stiff, hair-like process on the outer surface of an organism. In Lepidoptera: A usually rigid bristle- or hair-like outgrowth used to sense touch. In mosses: The stalk supporting a spore-bearing capsule and supplying it with nutrients. Plural: setae. Adjective: setose.

 

 

 

 

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Alfredo Colon

woodland fuzzy ant
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Alfredo Colon
6/3/2021

Location: Woodbury, MN

woodland fuzzy ant
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Created: 1/14/2025

Last Updated:

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