Hymenoptera564 species

Family Ants (Formicidae)

Formicidae is a family in the order Hymenoptera. Browse 564 named species recorded in this family, or open an individual profile for its available identification and natural-history information.

Guides

Fire Ant Guide

Species in Formicidae (564)

Myrmica ruginodis

Myrmica ruginodis can be distinguished from Myrmica rubra by the length of pair of spines projecting from the rear of the main part of the thorax. In Myrmica rugodinis these spines are relatively long - as long as the distance between their tips. Myr

Myrmica sabuleti

Myrmica sabuleti is another reddish brown ant similar to other Myrmica species. Adult workers are typically 4 to 5 mm in length. Generally they are characterised by quite narrow frons and a well-developed lobe at the scape base. Can be confused with

Myrmica scabrinodis

A common red ant found in many habitats with variation in colour from yellow red to blackish brown according to habitat. Examination of the base of the scapes is required to separate it from other Myrmica species. Adult workers are typically 4 to 5 m

Myrmica schencki

Very similar to Myrmica lobicornis. Workers and queens of both of these species have the antennal scape sharply angled at the base, with this bend bearing a broad upright flange. However, in M. schencki this flange is more strongly developed, with th

Myrmica specioides

Identification: Sharp bend at the base of the scape, with a distinct flange. See here for ID details: http://ants.biology.utah.edu/antsofwashington/genera/myrmica/species/rubra/rubra.html Introduced; found in Puget Sound and Southwestern BC, includin

Myrmica tahoensis

Identification: Variable in color, recognizable by coarse sculpture.

Neivamyrmex harrisii

Identification: Large Neivamyrmex males with straight mandibles and larger ocelli than similar species ( nigrescens, opacithorax, texanus, carolinensis , and kiowapache ).

Neivamyrmex kiowapache

Type Locality: Colorado, Jefferson Co., Red Rock Park, 5.v.1999 (L. Davis); paratypes with same data.

Neivamyrmex melshaemeri

Identification: Small Neivamyrmex species with long curved mandibles, sharp corners on the head behind the eyes, and long hair all over the gaster. This species is most easily confused with Neivamyrmex fuscipennis .

Neivamyrmex nigrescens

Identification: The worker is almost uniform dusky red coloring and matte mesosoma (and usually the head) are distinctive; the rear margin of the head scooped out, with acuminate corners. These are rather typical column-raiding army ants, much like t

Neivamyrmex opacithorax

Identification: The worker is almost has a shiny red head and gaster and weakly-shinging to matte, slightly darker mesosoma; the rear margin of the head is scooped out, with angular but rounded corners. Det. Steven Wang, 2018 These are rather typical

Neivamyrmex pilosus

Identification: Males are relatively obvious with a clear mandible shot, since they have a convex bump on the inner edge of the mandible (our other Neivamyrmex have uninterrupted concave hoooked mandibles or straight ones). Workers are very shiny and

Nesomyrmex wilda

Identification: Looks very similar to Temnothorax and has 3 pairs of blunt spines on the thoracic dorsum. This combination of characters are found in no other US ant.

Nomamyrmex esenbeckii

Identification: The largest doryline in the US by far. Very heavily armored ants. In the US doryline fauna, Nomamyrmex and Labidus are the only ones that have an obvious small tooth on the inside curve of the tarsal claw. This trait is found across a

Nylanderia faisonensis

This is the most common species of Nylanderia in the SE US, particularly in forested areas. I (O. Yung) have taken this species commonly nesting under bark, in downed logs, in acorns, under rocks, etc.

Nylanderia flavipes

An Asian species increasingly common from NJ to DC to NE Ohio.

Tawny Crazy Ant

Nylanderia fulva

Identification: How to identify Nylanderia , crazy ant spp. - Alex Wild, Myrmecos Todd Staples, Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, suspects this to be a potentially serious agricultural pest. These ants show likelihood of being transported through mo

Nylanderia vividula

The fact that this species was first described from specimens collected in a greenhouse in Finland (and is widely distributed as an introduced species around the Mediterranean) lead authors to suggest its Palaearctic origin; however, N. vividula is c

Copper-Bellied Ant

Ochetellus glaber

Identification: Small black dolichoderine ants with a sharp propodeum end, almost forming a right angle. Under ideal lighting conditions the abdomen has a faint copper sheen, but it otherwise appears dark. They taste quite chemically spicy, like a Do

Odontomachus haematodus

Identification: Large black aggressive species of Odontomachus (compared to O. brunneus). See Macgown et al. 2014 Because of its preference for disturbed habitats and its aggressive nature, this species can be a stinging nuisance pest. It can also co

Rough-node Snapping Ant

Odontomachus ruginodis

Identification: I would rather lean for the very similar O. ruginodis (introduced, and now more common than O. brunneus ). 1st dorsal segment of the gaster appears to be shining, hairless or almost so, while O. brunneus is hairy and has a distinct wo

Longhorn Crazy Ant

Paratrechina longicornis

Identification: Bluish reflections are characteristic Host species for the ant cricket Myrmecophilus americanus

Pheidole clementensis

Identification: Part of the Pheidole californica complex in the pilfera group.

Pheidole constipata

Described from numerous specimens taken from several colonies nesting under stones at Austin and New Braunfels, Texas.

Pheidole dentata

This is the most common species of Pheidole in the southern states. - TAMU

Pheidole gilvescens

Identification: Member of the pilifera group with short spines on the major and small but distinct humeral angles (compared to the similar xerophila , which has no angles). Often lighter colored than xerophila .

Pheidole morrisii

Identification: Easily recognized by size, orangey color, and virtual lack of propodeal spines.

Pheidole obscurithorax

First observed by E.O. Wilson in the port city of Mobile, Alabama, in the early 1950's

Pheidole porcula

Identification: Very thick and strongly curved scape bases serve to distinguish this species from any other similar Pheidole in the region. The scape is the first elongated antennal segment. Can be locally common, but not often collected due to its s

Pheidole sitiens

Identification: Shiny headed majors with long antennal scapes, among other notable differences with similar US species. Minors with very small propodeal spines. Restricted range in the US.

Pheidole tepicana

Identification: Antwiki Type locality: Tepic, Nayarit, collected by Eisen and Vaslit

Platythyrea punctata

Identification: "The one Nearctic species is easily recognized. The two pectinate spurs on the hind leg immediately separate it from all other Nearctic ponerine genera."( Hedlund 2003) "Platythyrea is characterized by the following apomorphy (Bolton

Pogonomyrmex apache

Identification: Excised clypeus is distinctive One of the least aggressive Pogonomyrmex.

Florida Harvester Ant

Pogonomyrmex badius

Identification: nest considered by Louisiana to be a "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" (SGCN) The only known host of the wasp Kapala floridana .

Pogonomyrmex bigbendensis

Identification: Anterior margin of clypeus weakly concave (nearly straight); rugae on dorsum of head very fine, parts of surface smooth and glossy Type nest series (workers only) from Rio Grande Village (565 m), Big Bend National Park, Brewster Co.,

Pogonomyrmex comanche

Type Locality: Milano, Milam Co., Texas considered by Louisiana and Texas to be a "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" (SGCN)

Pogonomyrmex hoelldobleri

Identification: Lack of circumocular whorls, especially above the eye. A small Pogonomyrmex , similar to magnacanthus and mohavensis . Many old specimens of hoelldobleri were misidentified as magnacanthus .

Maricopa Harvester Ant

Pogonomyrmex maricopa

Identification: They lack propodeal spines, have a straight anterior edge to their clypeus, and are larger and more strongly punctate in the intrarugal areas than P. californicus. [Comment by Paul Lenhart]

Pogonomyrmex pima

Identification: Similar to P. imberbiculus but without a strongly forwards protruding clypeal flange (right below the antennal insertions).

Rough Harvester Ant

Pogonomyrmex rugosus

Identification: Color and size is distinctive in range except for the dark morph of Veromessor andrei , but Pogonomyrmex has a continuous mesonotal profile (one hump) and Veromessor has an impressed metanotal groove (two humps). This species hybridiz

Western Amazon ant

Polyergus mexicanus

Future study may provide the wherewithal to recognize several species within the current concept of P. mexicanus . In particular, the West Coast populations formerly named 'umbratus' and 'laeviceps' seem somewhat distinctive, and another interior wes

Sanwald's Amazon ant 0

Polyergus sanwaldi

Identification: Dull integument, numerous stout dark bristle on rear margin of head, in mixed species colonies with host Formica dolosa . This ant is quite similar in appearance to the southern species P. longicornis , distinguished morphologically b

Wine-red Amazon ant

Polyergus vinosus

Identification: In full face view, antennal scapes reaching or often exceeding the rear margin of the head in repose. The only essentially chaparral Polyergus .

Poneracantha triangularis

Identification: Propodeal teeth diagnostic for this species. Larger (5 vs. 4mm), darker in color and has slightly coarser longitudinal grooves than G. hartmanni. Formerly Gnamptogenys triangularis -- moved to Poneracantha by Camacho et al., 2022.

Proceratium chickasaw

Identification: second gastric tergite more protruding than in P. pergandei .

Proceratium pergandei

Identification: More strongly protruding second gastric tergite than most US Proceratium, but less so than Proceratium chickasaw .

Pseudomyrmex caeciliae

Identification: Similar to P. elongatus but in our region only found in Texas. The two species overlap further south. Seems to be treated as Pseudomyrmex elongatus in

Graceful Twig Ant

Pseudomyrmex gracilis

Identification: A long, solitary, wasp-like ant. Large eyes, two segmented petiole, well developed sting. Color varies with geographic distribution, and can range from dark brown-black, to orange-brown, or a mixture of orange and brown [bicolored]. T

Pseudomyrmex simplex

Identification: Very simply identified among its genus by the orange body and paired black spots on the gaster. Synemosyna petrunkevitchi (Araneae: Salticidae) is a jumping spider that mimics this ant:

Solenopsis globularia

Identification: enormous globular postpetiole distinctive

Thief Ant

Solenopsis molesta

Identification: See Thompson (1989) below. A very abundant and widely distributed species that goes mostly unnoticed because of its small size.

Solenopsis pergandei

Identification: Queens are yellow and very large (among the small Solenopsis) at ~4.5mm. In workers, the short head, coarse punctures on the head, and the perfectly round postpetiole separate this species from other US thief ants.

Solenopsis picta

Identification: A tiny Solenopsis, usually with bicolored workers, as opposed to other thief ants in the US that have either fully dark or pale yellow workers. Much smaller than the "fire ants".

Black Imported Fire Ant

Solenopsis richteri

Introduced from South America, probably Argentina, sometime near 1918. A hybrid of this and S. invicta (also introduced) is becoming very common and displacing this species.

Thief ant (but one of several)

Solenopsis texana

Identification: Separated from the very similar and as also common S. molesta by the very short antennal segments 3-7.

Southern Fire Ant

Solenopsis xyloni

Identification: Generally similar to S. invicta in color and morphology. Differentiation is based on the lack of median tooth on the clypeus. Due to variation within colonies, several major workers should be examined in order to ensure that this feat

Stenamma schmittii

Identification: Minute eyes with few facets, net-like sculpture diagnostic for this eastern species

Stigmatomma pallipes

"Not a particularly rare ant, but rarely encountered because of its cryptic, subterranean life...It is a specialist predator of geophilomorph centipedes." - James C. Trager

Strumigenys dietrichi

Identification: Due to its wide distribution there can be some variation in the clypeal hairs, sometimes with some having slightly expanded tips but never as bulbous as in S. ornata . Very similar to S. boltoni , but boltoni has a clypeus that is upt

Strumigenys mixta_nr

Strumigenys mixtanr

S. mixta recorded in AZ in Booher 2021 as nonnative, but has subtle differences with central American mixta -- calling it mixta_nr for now

Strumigenys pulchella

Identification: Flagellate apiscrobal hair is diagnostic within the pulchella group. This is the wiry thin hair sticking out the side of the face at the top of the antennal scrobes, highlighted in green here:

Strumigenys reflexa

Identification: The arrangement of clypeal hairs is diagnostic within the pulchella-group.

Strumigenys silvestrii

Identification: In respects to S. louisianae : longer (less heart shaped) head, less "scaly" hairs on the head, different shaped lamellae underneath the propodeal spines. Workers also have much smaller eyes. Most easily confused with Strumigenys loui

Strumigenys superstes

known from a single queen specimen described here- Booher, D. and Uhey, D., 2020. New Native Trap-Jaw Ant, Strumigenys Smith1, from the Neotropical Excisa Species Group Discovered in a Disjunct Region and Climate on the Colorado Plateau. Southwestern

Strumigenys talpa

nominal species of the talpa-group, which includes Strumigenys archboldi, Strumigenys filitalpa, Strumigenys talpa, and Strumigenys wrayi

Syscia augustae

Type Locality: on the banks of Waller Creek, Austin, Travis Co., Texas

Tapinoma litorale

Not a rare ant, but rarely seen because of its small size and twig-dwelling habits (often in mangroves)

Odorous House Ant

Tapinoma sessile

Identification: The low, nodeless petiole distinctive, may not be readily visible but clearly seen here Alates are reared in spring, not uncommonly in wall spaces or window frames of houses, but naturally in the upper portions of leaf piles, under ba

Temnothorax ambiguus

Identification: The typical species of old fields and prairie (comment by James C. Trager).

Temnothorax caryaluteus

Identification: The workers of this species can be differentiated from other members of the Temnothorax schaumii-group by range and the length of the spines. The range of T. caryaluteus is primarily allopatric to the northern T. ambiguus . It can be

Temnothorax obturator

Identification: Rounder petiole than most other Temnothorax (as opposed to angled), small propodeal spines united by a carina.

Temnothorax schaumii

"An arboreal species with short spines and the head shining, the latter character state visible at low magnification in the field. Nests are usually in dead branches or under loose bark on live hardwoods or conifers, usually the former. Can be either

Temnothorax texanus

Widely associated with ecologically intact, sandy-soil grassland and open woodland habitats in the US Southeast, extending well north along the Atlantic Coast and in the Mississippi Valley. (comment by James C. Trager) "Nests are in soil, usually onl

Temnothorax whitfordi

Identification: Smooth and shiny dark brown Temnothorax with 11 segmented antennae, distinctive within the subgenus. Similar to T. emmae, differing in minor sculpture differences and color. More aggressive than typical Temnothorax

Tetramorium atratulum

Obligate parasite of Tetramorium caespitum The species A. atratulus was moved under the genus Tetramorium after the genus Anergates was synonymized with Tetramorium by Ward et. al. 2015.

Tetramorium caldarium

Identification: Much smaller than the common T. bicarinatum , and paler in color. Antennal scrobes less pronounced than the similar T. simillimum .

(Immigrant) Pavement Ant

Tetramorium immigrans

Introduced from Europe. It is parasitized by another imported Myrmicine Anergates atratulus (also introduced).

Tetramorium insolens

This species is native to Australasia but is invasive to parts of Southeast Asia, Oceania, Hawaii, and is also recorded from California. It is probably rare in California.

Wooly Pavement Ant

Tetramorium lanuginosum

Identification: Very hairy and round myrmicine ants with long propodeal spines and obvious antennal scrobes.

Tetramorium spinosum

Identification: Similar to T. hispidum , but with relatively smaller eyes and longer hairs on the back. Part of the Tetramorium tortuosum-group , which are the only Tetramorium native to the New World, an otherwise Old World genus.

Veromessor andrei

Identification: Two main colors, one brown-purple and one red. They seem to be modeled after two species of Pogonomyrmex , P. rugosus & P. occidentalis Corresponding V. andrei :

Veromessor chamberlini

Identification: base of scape widened, spines long (lobognathus, the other species with expanded scapes, has short spines)

Vollenhovia emeryi

Colonies of this species vary heavily in range -- recently split colonies may consist of just a queen and a dozen workers, to full colonies which have dozens of queens and thousands of workers. I believe the largest colonies I have collected have had