Bug card No. 2394 of 4,939

Japanese pavement ant

Tetramorium tsushimae

The Japanese pavement ant is a small ant from East Asia. Like all ants, it lives together with lots of sisters in a big family called a colony.

Lives in

East Asia, including Japan, often around paths and gardens

Top speed

about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Can sting

What does it eat?

Ants like it eat many kinds of food, from bits of plants and seeds to small insects and sweet leftovers.

A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

Japanese pavement ant about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

In 2026 scientists read its whole genome, the tiny instruction book inside every cell of its body.

Its instruction book is split into 13 pieces called chromosomes.

Scientists counted about 34,000 different instructions for building its body in that book.

you asked

?Where does the Japanese pavement ant live?

It comes from East Asia, including Japan.

Tetramorium tsushimae (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.

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