Uncertain field ant
The uncertain field ant is one of the most common ants in the meadows and lawns of eastern North America. Its whole home is hidden under the ground. From above you only see a small round hole, sometimes with a little ring of fresh soil around it.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
Its tunnels go straight down into the ground, some of them more than a metre deep, but there is no anthill on top.
One nest can hold a few thousand ants, together with their eggs, larvae and pupae.
It guards its aphids and treehoppers and chases away other insects that want their sweet honeydew.
When a meadow is planted again, it is often the first ant to move back in.
The queen can be told apart from other ant queens by three dark spots on her back.
Most asked questions about Uncertain field ant
?Why is it called the uncertain field ant?
Its Latin name means uncertain, because scientists find it very hard to tell apart from other ants that look almost the same.
?Where does the uncertain field ant live?
In eastern North America. It digs its nest under meadows, lawns, parks and roadsides.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Formica incerta
- Named by
- Emery, 1893
- Group
- Ants
- Family
- Formicidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Formicidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Formica incerta (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by April Nobile. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Black garden ant
Bullet ant
Pharaoh ant
Argentine ant
Red imported fire ant
Yellow crazy ant
Blue pansy
Bell cricket
Two-spotted bumblebee
Black webspinner
Western flower thrips
Cowboy beetle