Silky ant
The silky ant is a big, shiny black ant that runs very fast but is quite shy. It builds its nests in old tree stumps or under stones. It is also one of the cleverest little learners in the insect world.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Silky ant compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
After smelling something just once with a sugar reward, it remembers the smell for a long time.
Scientists trained these ants to sniff out the smell of cancer cells.
One nest can have a few queens living together peacefully.
A nest usually has 500 to 2,000 workers.
Ants with wings come out in summer and fly off to start new nests.
Most asked questions about Silky ant
?What do silky ants eat?
Small insects and the sweet honeydew that aphids make.
?Where do silky ants live?
In old stumps or under stones, at forest edges, hedges and in towns.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Formica fusca
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Ants
- Family
- Formicidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Formicidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa
- Also known as
- Dusky ant
Where the facts come from
- Formica fusca (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Mathias Krumbholz. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
Black garden ant
Bullet ant
Pharaoh ant
Argentine ant
Red imported fire ant
Yellow crazy ant
Blue-banded bee
Corn earworm
White satin moth
Common aerial yellowjacket
Convolvulus hawk-moth
Asian citrus psyllid.jpg){kind=link}