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Ants on Shotover The Brown Ant (Lasius brunneus) The Red Ants ‘All good work is done the way ants This is Shotover’s rarest ant (nationally scarce) (Myrmica ruginodis, M. sabuleti and M. rubra) do things, little by little’ (Patrick Hearn) and is seldom seen on the hill. They often nest These three ant species are widespread in rotting tree stumps. The workers are quite throughout Britain. The workers are about 5mm Ants, bees and wasps all belong to a large order small (3 mm long) and the abdomen is long and will sting, but only when under threat of of insects – the Hymenoptera. A feature unique noticeably darker than the head and thorax. being eaten. The colonies of these ants are to all Hymenoptera is that they have two pairs of relatively small with about 100-300 workers. wings which are held together by tiny hooks and The Black Ant (Lasius niger) work as a single wing on each side. Ants are These ants are actually brown and are the most structurally different commonly seen ants on Shotover. They nest from bees and underground and will use insects, seeds and wasps in having a honeydew for food. It is this ant species that will petiole of one or invade your house looking for food. Workers are two extra segments about 4mm long and can live up to 7 years. (depending on the species) between Jet Black Ant (Lasius fuliginosus) the thorax and These shiny black ants have yellow legs and a abdomen. This heart-shaped head. They nest in hedges and difference places stumps and are can be seen rushing both ways The Worker Ants the ants in a family along the trail they have made. To start a colony, All worker ants are female and are smaller than of their own – the the ‘Jet Black’ queen takes over the nest of the queens and males. The vast majority of ants Formicidae. another species. She kills the host queen and in the nest are workers, and they do all the work: her workers gradually replace the host workers. maintaining and defending the nest, caring for Nearly all female Hymenoptera defend the queen, tending the eggs and gathering food. themselves with a sting, including most ants. The Yellow Meadow Ant (Lasius flavus) However, some ant species bite a hole, and then These pale yellow ants nest in grassy areas The Queen Ant squirt acid into the wound – and it still hurts! creating the well-known ant-hills. They are After mating, a queen ant will establish a new skilled nest-builders and can control the colony and spend the rest of her life laying eggs. Ants found at Shotover temperature of the nest and ‘farm’ aphids for Initially she can fly, but once in the nest she Fifty species of ant can be found in Britain, honeydew. Foraging is done underground and loses her wings. A queen is much larger than the but only 10 species have been recorded on so the ants are seen above ground only at workers and only needs to mate once to produce Shotover Hill. These are the Brown Ant mating time, or if disturbed. The workers are fertile eggs for the rest of her life. (Lasius brunneus), Black Ant (Lasius niger), small, only 3mm long and are ‘acid squirters’. the Jet Black Ant (Lasius fuliginosus), the The Male Ants Yellow Ants (Lasius flavus and L. mixtus), The Negro Ant (Formica fusca) Male ants have wings, and at certain times, can the Negro Ant (Formica fusca), the Red Mainly found in southern England, this large be seen in abundance around the nest on warm Ants (Myrmica sabuleti, M. rubra and black ant often makes its nest under rotting logs. humid days. It seems that the sole purpose of M.ruginodis) and Leptothorax acervorum*. The worker ants are the biggest on Shotover, up the male is to mate with a queen – and then die! * not recorded since 1980 to 7mm long, with about 1000 in one colony. The Colony Cycle 0 Ants and plants on Shotover After queens have mated they establish a new Ants play a very important part in wildlife colony by excavating a chamber in a suitable ecology, from gardens to nature 1 place or finding a nest to take over. In the new reserves. However, on Shotover they nest the queen lays eggs that hatch into larvae have a particularly special relationship 2 and are fed and reared into workers. Eventually with some of our scarcer plants. there are enough workers to take over all of the Heath Milkwort, Heath Wood-rush and 3 Violets all have a gland on their seed nest work. If at any time the queen dies, the that produces a nutritious substance that colony will only survive for a few 4 the ants can’t resist. Without harming the months. Mating occurs in seed, the ants take them back to their Ants the warm summer nests, and in so doing, spread the seeds months, and in 5 to new locations and hide them from anticipation of this, harm. Interestingly, Gorse seed also has the dynamics of 6 this gland, but the substance from the on SHOTOVER the colony rarer plants seems to be more delicious change to 7 and their seed gets harvested in preference. produce males and new 8 queens. Shotover Wildlife is an independent voluntary 9 organisation founded to research and communicate the importance of Shotover Hill for The many ‘guests’ in an ants’ nest wildlife 10 There are very many guests in an ants’ nest: Chair: Ivan Wright M Tel: 01865 874423 some welcome, others not, and some e a s u Enqu [email protected] tricksters. One trickster is the caterpillar of the r i n g www.shotover-wildlife.org.uk Large Blue butterfly, which gives off a scent s c a l and changes shape to mimic the ants’ own e i n Related leaflet titles: larvae. The butterfly larvae are taken back to c e n t i the nest where they eat ant larvae until ready m e Bees and Wasps Butterflies t r to leave and become butterflies. Other guests e Heathland Flowers Habitats s are more useful and important to the ants. The SW Making a Difference White Woodlouse will eat the ants’ waste, and it is amazing how ants ‘farm’ and feed aphids in order to ‘milk’ them for their sweet Cover: The Negro Ant (Formica fusca) honeydew. There is also a small beetle that is Leaflet written by Dave Powney so adapted to spending all its life in the colony Illustrated by Bonnie Collins that it has no eyes and the antennae are used © Copyright Shotover Wildlife August 2008 v2 10/09 as handles for the ants to move them around!.
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