The Haven is first and foremost a garden for bees. But like most gardens managed for bee conservation, many other insects and animals make it their home as well. One interesting and diverse group at the Haven are several species of ants native to California. Ants are in the same insect order (Hymenoptera) as bees and have similar biology to honey bees in that ant colonies also have a queen, division of labor, and care of the young.

Recently Phil Ward, ant specialist and Professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at UC Davis, did a lunchtime program on native ants in the garden. The Haven is fortunate to have escaped colonization by the non-native Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, which often displaces other ant species when it moves into an area. Since Argentine ants need moist soil Phil speculates that this species has not entered the garden because we're surrounded by non-irrigated land.

The first of these ants that garden visitors will notice is Dorymyrmex bicolor. Located in the entrance patio, the black and brown-colored ant (hence the species epithet "bicolor") is easily viewed without magnification.

Location of a Dorymyrmex bicolor colony in the Haven's entrance patio

Another ant nesting in the garden's entrance patio is the odorous house ant, Taponima sessile.

A relative of D. bicolor, the ant Dorymyrmex insanus prefers dry soil. Just outside the Haven's gate, look for a crack in Bee Biology Road circled in orange paint that marks a colony entrance. A video of this ant shows the erratic movement that gives it its name.

Click here for a complete list of ants at the Haven and the UC Davis Arboretum. For more information on ants, including great photos, visit AntWeb.