Inundation of habitats may represent a severe disturbance of epigaean ants in temperate floodplain forests because ants have a limited ability to survive a flood or to save their nests. The epigaean ant community was examined in 30 forest plots of an extended Central European floodplain forest complex. The study comprised forest plots of different inundation frequency but ± homogeneous plots in terms of soil type, humus type, depth of leaf litter, exposition and relief. The ant nest abundance was related to the inundation frequency and coverage of trees using generalized linear models. A total of six ant species was recorded, four of which occurred in large abundances (Myrmica ruginodis Nylander 1846, M rubra Linnaeus 1758, Lasius brunneus Latreille 1798 and L platythorax Seifert 1991). Myrmica ruginodis and M rubra, the most abundant species co-occurred at 50 % of the sites. The coverage of trees did not influence any of these species. The inundation frequency affected only two species, M ruginodis and L platythorax, significantly. The nest abundance of both species decreased with increasing flood frequency. Both M rubra and L brunneus did not show a significant relation to the flood pattern. L brunneus has a primary arboreal way of live but shifts with larger colonies to the stem base in late summer. This behaviour may explain its independence from inundation frequency. In contrast, M rubra shows a high survival rate during inundation and a high re-colonization power after drop of flood pulse compared to all other recorded ant species.