Antspotting in Turku

Explore Ants of Turku also virtually

Point 1: Black garden ant

Market Place, Turku

Black garden ant (Lasius niger) lives also in barren environments like bare rocky islets. In Turku it can be found in the centre of the market place. The ants can find many kinds of food stuffs fallen from the selling tables. At the end of the day street sweeper will take the delicious food away.

In early spring Black garden ant may come and visit human apartments to seek food. In the summer the ants usually retrieve to outdoors. So don’t be disturbed, it is a messenger of spring and summer!

Swarming day of Black garden ant
Photo: Jouni Sorvari

Point 2: Yellow meadow ant

Luolavuori

 Workers of Yellow meadow ant (Lasius flavus) are yellow – of course. Queens are brown and males are black. This ant is usually not seen on the ground unless it is the swarming day of new queens and males, which usually occurs in August.

Yellow meadow ant lives mostly by eating the sweet excretions of root aphids. It also eats small ground-dwelling animals.

Yellow meadow ant colonies can often be found on meadows, forest edges and rocks. It builds earth mounds that can be half meter in diameter and height.

Yellow meadow ant taking care of pupa
Photo: Tarja Eskelinen

Point 3: Blood red ant

Kakskerta

Blood red ant (Formica sanguinea) has got its name from the deep red colour of workers and queens. Males are black. It usually lives in warm forest edges and rocky forests, sometimes in meadows. It often has separate winter nest.

Blood red ant gets more workers to its nests by kidnapping worker pupae from the nests of some other species. When the alien worker hatches from its pupa it will work and behave as its new nest is its home colony.


Blood red ant returning from kidnapping tour
Photo: Tarja Eskelinen

Point 4: Black-backed Meadow Ant

Nummenmäki

Black-backed Meadow Ant (Formica pratensis) is one of the five Finnish wood ant species. It nests often in more open areas than the rest of our wood ants. The nests are typically in forest edges, usually several meters away from forest. Sometimes nests can be found inside open forests – like in Nummenmäki forest.

The nest is seldom large. Even the largest nests are normally smaller than one metre in diameter. The society contains one queen and one nest.

Narrow busy tracks are directed to nearby trees and bushes where the ants have their aphid “cattle”.

Black-backed Meadow Ant is on her way to aphid field in aspen tree
Photo: Jouni Sorvari

More points and photos will be added to this Virtual route during the summer 2011. In addition, video clips about the everyday life and feast of ants will be added here.