Yellow Meadow Ants

Look out for anthills in grassland, home of the yellow meadow ant. They are yellowy brown in colour and live underground. These remarkable ‘farmer’ ants have influenced soil structure and composition over the millennia. Their digging creates mounds of earth beneath which are cities full of worker ants and a queen. Anthills are an indicator of unimproved grassland which has been not been disturbed for generations, sure to have a diverse range of flora associated with grassland which has not been fertilised or limed. Grazing of this grassland is essential to prevent scrub encroachment and the loss of biodiversity including anthills. The yellow meadow ant is part of our native Irish biodiversity.

Yellow meadow ant habitat