F. rufibarbis is subject to a Species Action Plan (SAP) in England, where it is known from only two locations, although it is not considered to be at risk on continental Europe.

In the 1927 edition of British Ants: their life histories and classification, Donisthorpe gives its distribution as being confined to Ripley, Chobham, Reigate and Weybridge.

[2] As of 2015, F. rufibarbis is now confined to one known colony on mainland Britain, nesting on the edge of a Heath, the location is kept a closely guarded secret due to the risk posed by curious members of the public.

Workers also possess a remarkable sense of sight, and will proceed to their nest entrance in a dead straight line even if major obstacles are placed to disrupt their path.

I then saw a worker approaching with a fly in its jaws and start to mount the bank, and as the scattered herbage was directly in its way, I feared the ant might be diverted from its nest, but when it reached the obstacle it never hesitated for a moment, but running straight over it in a direct line, entered its nest on the top of the bank, which I was thus enabled to find.