Small pugnacious ant

Anoplolepis steingroeveri · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Small pugnacious ant
Photo: Chris Vynbos, CC BY-SA

The worker looks like the darker forms of the common pugnacious ant, but the common species shows a checker-board pattern on its abdomen caused by hairs that reflect light differently on each side. It is native to southern Africa, occurring in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

The ant resembles darker morphs of the common pugnacious ant, yet the common species has a distinctive checker-board pattern on its gaster due to differently oriented pubescent hairs.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It is native to southern Africa and is found in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Small pugnacious ant photo 3
Photo: unknown, CC0
Small pugnacious ant photo 4
Photo: Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA
Small pugnacious ant photo 5
Photo: Justin Ponder, CC BY
Small pugnacious ant photo 6
Photo: Nicola van Berkel, CC BY-SA

Same family (Formicidae)

Eastern Black Carpenter AntEastern Black Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusCan damage your homeRed Imported Fire AntRed Imported Fire AntSolenopsis invictaCan stingAmerican Winter AntAmerican Winter AntPrenolepis imparisArgentine AntArgentine AntLinepithema humileNuisance, not dangerousImmigrant Pavement AntImmigrant Pavement AntTetramorium immigransCan stingOdorous House AntOdorous House AntTapinoma sessileCan damage your home

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoplolepis_steingroeveri

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

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