96
The Essex Naturalist
Myrmecina graminicola (Latr.)
Distribution
A scarce ant with recent records from ten localities in South Essex. These are
Auckland Road allotments (coll. by P R Mabbott in 1994) and Connaught Club
(Hanson 1992) in the Epping Forest area, St Mary's Churchyard (East Ham),
Grays Chalk Quarry, Fobbing Marshes, Hadleigh Downs, Befton Hills,
Southend Sewage Works, Bushy Hill (South Woodham Ferrers) and The Cliff
(Burnham-on-Crouch).
Barrett (1979) shows a post 1961 record for TQ49.
Habitat and Ecology
One feature these localities all have in common is the presence of sparsely
vegetated ground. Another common feature may also be the presence of cracks
which develop as the soil dries out in summer. Collingwood (1979) states that
colonies occur under stones in stony pastures and in open woodland and workers
are often found individually in the nests of other ant species.
Threats
The main threats are likely to be the loss of open ground habitat through lack of
management or tree planting and the loss of sites to agricultural improvement or
development.
SUBFAMILY FORMIC1NAE
Genus: Formica. Four of the eleven British species are recorded for Essex and
there are recent records for three of these.