Lasius neglectus is closely related to Lasius niger, but there are several important differences. Workers are generally smaller and light to medium brown in colour, giving them a noticeably different appearance from the common black garden ant.
The most remarkable characteristic of this species is its ability to form enormous supercolonies. In the wild, these consist of vast networks of interconnected nests containing many queens and can eventually support millions of workers. Some documented supercolonies have been estimated to contain over 35,000 queens.
Unlike many ant species, Lasius neglectus does not rely solely on nuptial flights to establish new colonies. While queens are capable of flying and founding colonies independently, many mate within their own nest and remain there for life. As a result, the colony reproduces internally, with queens and males breeding within the existing colony. This means they readily inbreed in captivity, allowing colonies to continue growing without requiring mating flights.
Because all nests within a supercolony are closely related, workers show little or no territorial aggression towards one another. Instead, they cooperate as a single colony spread across multiple nests.
In nature, Lasius neglectus usually nests beneath flat stones, within the upper layers of soil, under leaf litter, or even in piles of debris. In urban environments, they are also known to establish nests inside electrical equipment and other man-made structures.
Like most Lasius species, their primary food source is the honeydew produced by aphids and other sap-feeding insects. They will also hunt and scavenge small insects and other protein sources to support brood development.
This species is highly aggressive and is capable of displacing native ant species, including other Lasius ants. Their rapid colony growth, multiple queens and supercolony structure make them a particularly successful species.
These colonies are inbred from a mother colony.
Important Legal Information
Lasius neglectus is not native to the United Kingdom. It must never be released into the wild. Releasing this species is unlawful and could have serious ecological consequences.
If you no longer wish to keep your colony, do not release it outdoors. Instead, please either:
- Humanely destroy the colony, or
- Contact us, and we will be happy to advise or assist with its safe disposal.
Thank you for helping to protect our native wildlife.
Keeping difficulty: Intermediate (kept more than one species)
Colonyform: Polygyne
Queen size: 7-8mm
Worker’s size: 2-4 mm brown
Food: honey water and insects
Temp: 18-26°C
Humidity: 50-60%
Founding: Claustral without feeding
Colonysize: 1-1,0000 workers (super colonies in the wild)
Hibernation: November until end of February at 15°C
UK leading ant supplier:
We are the UK’s leading ant supplier in terms of volume of ants sold every year. We have been going for over 5 years and have had 1000s of happy customers every year with consistently high feedback.
Live arrival guarantee:
We guarantee the live arrival of your Queen they come well packed in our jiffy bags which have two-sided padding as well as an additional layer of bubble wrap around our test tubes. We are the only company in the United Kingdom to offer our live arrival guarantee of your queen as well as an additional 14 days guarantee if the colony if kept in the original test tube for all our European species. Why do we do this? We are confident with our colony’s health and our packaging process as well as our care guides, we also believe in our customers and making sure they have a good ant keeping experience.
Be aware of sellers only using the Live arrival guarantee and not the 14-day additional warranty on European ant species it might be slightly cheaper but could end up paying more in the long run, also all our products are sold as starter kits including food and a pipette.
We do require photographic evidence of the queen in the original test tube for validating the guarantee once outside the test tube and in a nest the environment is outside of our control.
It is illegal to release non-native species of ants into the wild and could damage the local ecosystem so bare this in mind we have a duty to our environment.
Live arrival guarantee we ensure the live arrival of the queen only upon delivery contact us within 24-48 hours of receiving the Queen dead on arrival with a picture of the dead queen and the original workers. DO NOT TRANSFER THE DEAD QUEEN OR WORKERS TO A NEST AS THIS VOIDS YOUR WARRNTY. For our additional 14-day guarantee for European species the Queen and workers must be kept in the original test tube sealed with the cotton and care sheet instructions followed if you want to keep this additional guarantee do not transfer to a nest or your warranty is VOIDED (we recommend you keep the 14-day warranty).
We have no control over the environment outside the test tube and have no influence in the conditions the responsibility once placed outside the test tube within the 14-day period the responsibility is with the buyer. 9 times out of 10 colonies die in the nest due to lack of water access, food, temperature, oxygen or stress due to vibrations or exposure to excess light. If your colony does fail inside a nest contact us, we can advise what went wrong but it is up to you to buy another ant colony, you will succeed but sometimes it does not work the first time. Research is key to success with ant keeping and follow our guides.
