Species Account for Lasius platythorax

Essex Red Data List comment
Recorded from 5 out of 57x10km.sq. records in county

Species text
Seifert (1992) split L. niger sens. lat. into two species found in Britain L. niger (L) and L. platythorax Seifert. The two species are difficult to separate requiring morphometric indices in microns and it has not yet been possible to critically examine the majority of Essex specimens, although most are likely to be L. niger s.s.. Prince (1998) provides a map showing British records and this includes north-west Essex. The distribution of L. platythorax is at present poorly known in Britain and Essex, but so far appears to be a southern species. The ant appears to prefer moister places than L. niger s.s. and is not associated with stones, pavements, etc. It can be found in woodland clearings and bogs nesting in dead wood and soil. It may be an indicator of comparatively undisturbed natural habitat (Prince, 1998). In view of the number of ancient woodland sites within the county it does seem possible that the ant will turn out to be widely distributed in Essex, however the only Essex records are the original north-west Essex one (by Collingwood), one in the Colchester area (P. Lee, 2003) and one from Basildon (Harvey, 2005). References

Habitats

Recorded management for locations with Lasius platythorax

Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Lasius platythorax

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Interpretation of distribution maps