Found in dry and cultivated areas, it is an important source of prey for some pangolins and aardvarks.

Darker individuals can be distinguished from the black pugnacious ant (Anoplolepis steingroeveri) by the chequer-board dark pattern on the gaster, which is caused by reflection of light by pubescent hairs which lie in different directions on the two sides.

Its range includes Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.

It is a terrestrial species living in dry, open habitats such as the Karoo in South Africa, and is found in cultivated areas and vineyards.

[3] A study of pangolins in Sabi Sand Game Reserve in South Africa showed that they fed exclusively on ants and termites and that A. custodiens constituted 77% of their diet, mostly dug out from shallow subterranean locations.