Dusky ant
Formica fusca Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedbees wasps and ants
The dusky ant (Formica fusca) is a species in the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera.
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Quick facts about the dusky ant
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the dusky ant live?
Not recorded
Is the dusky ant endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the dusky ant classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderHymenoptera
- familyFormicidae
- genusFormica
- SpeciesFormica fusca Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Formica barbata, Formica flavipes, Formica fusca fusca, Formica fusca pallipes, Formica fusca rufipes, Formica fusca var. pallipes, Formica fusca var. rufipes, Formica glebaria, Formica libera, Formica nigra, Formica tristis, Lasius niger, Serviformica fusca
Other names and names in other languages (25)
- Negro antEnglish
- Silky antEnglish
- mravenec otročícíCzech
- Sort slavemyreDanish
- Grauschwarze SklavenameiseGerman
- mustamuurahainenFinnish
- Fourmi noireFrench
- Kormos rabszolgahangyaHungarian
- 흑개미Korean
- Tamsiarudė miško skruzdėlėLithuanian
- svart sauemaurNorwegian Bokmål
- Zwarte renmierDutch
- Pierwomrówka łagodnaPolish
- Бурый лесной муравейRussian
- mravec otročiaciSlovak
- svart slavmyraSwedish
- Мурашка рудаUkrainian
- Fourmi flavipèdeFrench
- Fourmi obscureFrench
- fourmi soyeuseFrench
- Fourmi toute bruneFrench
- varmekjær sauemaurNorwegian Bokmål
- Grauwzwarte mierDutch
- Grauwzwarte renmierDutch
- vanlig svartmyraSwedish
Relatives of the dusky ant
Other species in the same genus Formica.

Red wood ant
Formica rufa
Slaver ant
Formica sanguinea
Scottish wood ant
Formica aquilonia
European red wood ant
Formica polyctena
Meadow ant
Formica pratensis
Hairy wood ant
Formica lugubris
CompareDusky ant vs Red wood antDusky ant vs Slaver antDusky ant vs Scottish wood antDusky ant vs European red wood ant
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the dusky ant?
The dusky ant (Formica fusca) belongs to the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
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Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Dusky ant (Formica fusca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-ant
“Dusky ant (Formica fusca).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-ant.
@misc{dusky_ant_2026,
title = {Dusky ant (Formica fusca)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-ant},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}