CreatureData

Red ant

Myrmica rubra (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedbees wasps and ants

The red ant (Myrmica rubra) is a species in the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the red ant

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Resting metabolic rate
0.0067 mW
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the red ant live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the red ant as introduced in 2 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.

  1. Canadainvasive
  2. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the red 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 red ant classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classInsecta
  4. orderHymenoptera
  5. familyFormicidae
  6. genusMyrmica
  7. SpeciesMyrmica rubra (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Formica minima rubra, Formica rubra, Myrmica laevinodis, Myrmica laevinodis bruesi, Myrmica laevinodis europaea, Myrmica laevinodis var. bruesi, Myrmica laevinodis var. europaea, Myrmica longiscapus, Myrmica microrubra, Myrmica rubra champlaini, Myrmica rubra europaea, Myrmica rubra laevinodis

Other names and names in other languages (23)
  • Common red antEnglish
  • European fire antEnglish
  • mravenec žahavýCzech
  • Korttornet stikmyreDanish
  • Rote GartenameiseGerman
  • NiidurautsikEstonian
  • siloviholainenFinnish
  • Fourmi rougeFrench
  • Európai tűzhangyaHungarian
  • キイロクシケアリJapanese
  • Rudā dzēlējskudraLatvian
  • hageeitermaurNorwegian Bokmål
  • Rode steekmierDutch
  • Wścieklica zwyczajnaPolish
  • Мирмика рыжаяRussian
  • mravec bodavýSlovak
  • ognjena rdečkaSlovenian
  • trädgårdsrödmyraSwedish
  • Rotgelbe KnotenameiseGerman
  • Fourmi rouge européenneFrench
  • közönséges bütyköshangyaHungarian
  • Gewone steekmierDutch
  • mindre trädgårdsrödmyraSwedish

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the red ant

Other species in the same genus Myrmica.

Bright ant

Myrmica lampra

FormicidaeNo free photo yet

CompareRed ant vs Woodland red antRed ant vs Scabrous antRed ant vs Bright antRed ant vs Punctured ant

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the red ant an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the red ant as invasive in 1 country: Canada. It lists it as introduced in 2 in all.

What kind of animal is the red ant?

The red ant (Myrmica rubra) belongs to the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Red ant (Myrmica rubra). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/myrmica-rubra

MLA

“Red ant (Myrmica rubra).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/myrmica-rubra.

BibTeX
@misc{myrmica_rubra_2026,
  title = {Red ant (Myrmica rubra)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/myrmica-rubra},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}