Black Garden Ant
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| Lasius niger Template:Taxobox authority new |
The Black Garden Ant (Lasius niger) is a formicine monogynous ant, the type species of the subgenus Lasius, found all over Europe and in some parts of North America and Asia.
Nuptial flights happen at various times in the year throughout the species' range; in North America they usually occur during the autumn, whereas in Europe they generally take place during the hot summer months of July and August. Flights can contain thousands of winged males and females. L. niger is considered a pest in most areas.
Disperities between local weather condition can cause nuptial flights to be out of phase amongst widespread populations of L. niger. During long-lasting, hot summers, flights can take place simultaneously across the country, but overcast weather with local patches of sunshine results in a far less synchronised emergence of alates.
Lasius niger is host to a number of temporary social parasites of the Lasius mixtus group including L. mixtus and L. umbratus.
In The Garden
These types of ants are a problem for gardeners. They will farm Aphids, for the honey dew they excrete, by bringing them inside the nest and then bring them back out again when neccesary. The ants will also eat ripe fruits, especially fruits like strawberries that don't have a thick skin to protect themselves.
Exterminating the nest is a tricky business in the garden. Usualy pesticides are used to kill ant nests but this becomes dangerous in a hoem garden. Most home gardeners apt for a more ecological-friendly solution. There are numerous methods, but depending on the infestation in the garden, many attempts may have to be made before it eventualy kills the whole nest. The main aim for all these methods is to kill the queen which is the only ant in the colony that can create more ants. So by killing her the nest will be destroyed.
One of the easiest methods is to pour boiling water, instantly killing any ant the water comes in contact with. Other methods use water with some mixture of an acid that disolves a wax (in or on) the ant which when melted suffocates the ant by not allowing it to breathe.
One interesting method is transplant dirt and ants from another colony into the other colony. Doing this back and forth could cause both colonies to go to war against each other and hopefully killing each other in the process.de:Schwarze Wegameise