Yellow meadow ant: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the yellow meadow ant lives – recorded in 16 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Lasius flavus
Group	Bees, wasps & ants
Found in	16 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Insect
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Formicidae

Where does the yellow meadow ant live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the yellow meadow ant in 16 countries and territories across Europe and North America. In Ireland it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the yellow meadow ant?

The yellow meadow ant (Lasius flavus) is an insect in the order Hymenoptera and the family Formicidae, genus Lasius. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the yellow meadow ant

The yellow meadow ant (Lasius flavus), also known as the yellow hill ant, is a species of ant occurring in Europe (where it is one of the most common ants), Asia, and North Africa. As of 2018, populations in North America are considered a different, related species, Lasius brevicornis.

The queen is 7–9 mm long, males 3–4 mm and workers 2–4 mm. Their colour varies from yellow to brown, with queen and males being slightly more darkly colored.

The species lives primarily underground in meadows and very commonly, lawns. The nests are often completely overgrown by grass, however, often their presence is betrayed by small mounds of loose soil material between the grass stalks. They will also nest under large rocks or concrete slabs. Lawn nesting will eventually become obvious as the aphids clear sections of grass or portions of gardens.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Yellow meadow ant (revision 1295894662), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1061241 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).