(Tetramorium caespitum)
Biology:
The workers of this species, which also belongs to the nodule ants (Myrmicinae), are 2-3.5 mm long, brown to dark brown with yellow-brown legs and jaws. In contrast to the pharaoh ants, the often quite large colonies (up to 80,000 workers) of the lawn ant contain only a single queen.
The nests, usually with a dome-like mound of earth, are built in dry, sandy places in gardens, often on roadsides.
Damage:
Although lawn ants are quite common in human settlements, they do not normally nest indoors but outdoors. However, in search of food – in contrast to the pharaoh ants, mainly sugary food – they occasionally enter houses and raid the storerooms.
They can become very troublesome, especially if a rich food source is found during their forays and a densely packed ant trail quickly develops between the nest and the food source.
They also often make themselves unpopular by their behavior of undermining terraces or paved paths in the garden and transporting sand to the surface.
