Wood ant
The wood ant, also known as the horse ant, red wood ant, or southern wood ant, is a native species found across Eurasia, from Scandinavia to Turkey. Typically measuring about 1/4 inch in length, these ants are recognized by their triangular heads and strong mandibles. They construct elaborate nests beneath mounds of pine needles and leaves, often near trees, and live in highly socialized colonies led by a queen. The colonies can be extensive, with chambers and tunnels extending over a meter underground. Wood ants primarily feed on insects, particularly aphids and caterpillars, using their mandibles to chew food and share it with the queen and larvae through regurgitated saliva.
Mating occurs on the surface of their nests during the summer months, after which the male dies and the female seeks a new nesting site, shedding her wings in the process. The reproductive strategy of the queen allows her to determine the sex of her offspring, influencing the colony's structure with distinct castes: worker females, reproductive females, and reproductive males. While the lifespan of worker and male wood ants is relatively short, queens can live up to 20 years. Unfortunately, many species of wood ants face threats from habitat loss due to deforestation, urbanization, and human activities, with some species being endangered or extinct.
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Wood ant
The wood ant, also called the horse ant, red wood ant, and southern wood ant, is native to Eurasia, with populations stretching from Scandinavia to Turkey. The wood ant is commonly found building an elaborate nest beneath a large mound of pine needles and leaves near the base of a tree. Like other ants, the wood ant lives in a highly socialized colony led by a ruling queen wood ant.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus: Formica
Species: Rufa
The wood ant generally grows to be about 1/4 of an inch (1/2 of a centimeter) in length. Its body is divided into the three main parts of head, thorax, or mid-body section, and abdomen, or lower-body section. The head is triangular in shape and contains the strong, mandibles, or jaws, of the wood ant as well as this insect's antennae. The long, oval thorax contains the six thin, segmented legs of the wood ant. Each leg has many segments which are connected by moveable joints. Behind the thorax is the round abdomen. This part hold the wood ant's internal organs. The male wood ant and the young reproductive female wood ants also have wings. This kind of female uses her wings when she flies to a new location to build her own colony. Reproductive female wood ants all grow up to become queen wood ants.
The wood ant is typically found throughout Europe. It builds its nest colonies in the ground beneath large piles of leaves and pine needles in open woodlands. These colonies include chambers and tunnels and may extend more than three feet (one meter) into the ground. Each colony has one main chamber which is occupied by the queen wood ant and her eggs and smaller chambers which are used for food and developing young wood ants.
The wood ant is a carnivorous animal, or an animal which feeds on flesh. The diet of the wood ant includes many insects, but most consists mostly of aphids and caterpillars. Worker wood ants travel outside of the colony to find insects. The worker wood ants chew the food with their sharp, pincer-like mandibles, or jaws. They then feed their nutritious saliva to the queen wood ant and her young. Worker wood ants are nonreproductive female wood ants.
Mating between reproductive male and female wood ants takes place on the surface of the mound of pine needles during the months of June or July. After mating the male dies and the female begins to search for a place to start her own colony. Once a suitable place has been found, she scraps off her wings and crawls into the soil. There she constructs the first chambers of her new nest. Eventually she lays her first batch of eggs in her egg chamber. The female uses the sperm from her mate throughout her life. All of the fertilized eggs she lays develop into females and the unfertilized eggs develop into males. By controlling the number of fertilized eggs, the queen wood ant is able to control the environment of her colony.
As the queen produces male and female offspring, each belongs to its own caste, or social position. Each wood ant is either a worker female, reproductive female, or reproductive male.
The average life span of the males and worker wood ants range from a few weeks up to two months. Queen wood ants can live up to 20 years. Some species of wood ants are endangerd or have become extinct. All species are under threat from deforestation, urbanization, and human development.
Bibliography
Meyers, et al., P. “Formica Rufa: Classification.” Animal Diversity Web, 2024, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Formica‗rufa/classification. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024.
“Wood Ants.” National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org/en/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Ants/Wood-Ants. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024.