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Southern wood ant - nest construction, Heeswijk-Dinther, Netherlands I usually don&#039;t really know what to do when seeing thousands of ants going about their ways in what appears to be chaos. Best to follow just one ant, such as this one delivering some large organic material (a nut?) to the nest building crew.<br /> <br /> The nest is an ecosystem on its own, and not just for the ants. Specific soil animals live in these enormous nests as they are warmer and dryer than the normal soil.<br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/121138/southern_wood_ant_-_nest_heeswijk-dinther_netherlands.html" title="Southern wood ant - nest, Heeswijk-Dinther, Netherlands"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/121138_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=TR2QDJh5FBEpUMTpYL3wqp2%2BWuc%3D" width="102" height="152" alt="Southern wood ant - nest, Heeswijk-Dinther, Netherlands Nest impression of this forest ant. In this case, it is situated on the inside of an old tree bark, but in general it looks as a massive bump or pile of organic material: leaves, twigs, the like. A single nest can contains hundreds of thousands of female workers, here in the bottom of the photo you see plenty. Sometimes nests split yet are still part of the same even larger colony.<br /> <br /> This species is highly aggressive, they come out angrily by the thousands when provoked or when foraging. Few species can withstand this relentless mob of jaws and acid spraying abdomens. All but woodpeckers skip this meal.<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/121139/southern_wood_ant_-_nest_construction_heeswijk-dinther_netherlands.html Europe,Formica rufa,Heeswijk-Dinther,Netherlands,Southern wood ant,World" /></a></figure> Europe,Formica rufa,Heeswijk-Dinther,Netherlands,Southern wood ant,World Click/tap to enlarge

Southern wood ant - nest construction, Heeswijk-Dinther, Netherlands

I usually don't really know what to do when seeing thousands of ants going about their ways in what appears to be chaos. Best to follow just one ant, such as this one delivering some large organic material (a nut?) to the nest building crew.

The nest is an ecosystem on its own, and not just for the ants. Specific soil animals live in these enormous nests as they are warmer and dryer than the normal soil.

Southern wood ant - nest, Heeswijk-Dinther, Netherlands Nest impression of this forest ant. In this case, it is situated on the inside of an old tree bark, but in general it looks as a massive bump or pile of organic material: leaves, twigs, the like. A single nest can contains hundreds of thousands of female workers, here in the bottom of the photo you see plenty. Sometimes nests split yet are still part of the same even larger colony.<br /> <br /> This species is highly aggressive, they come out angrily by the thousands when provoked or when foraging. Few species can withstand this relentless mob of jaws and acid spraying abdomens. All but woodpeckers skip this meal.<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/121139/southern_wood_ant_-_nest_construction_heeswijk-dinther_netherlands.html Europe,Formica rufa,Heeswijk-Dinther,Netherlands,Southern wood ant,World

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The Southern wood ant

''Formica rufa'', also known as the southern wood ant or horse ant, is a boreal member of the ''Formica rufa'' group of ants, commonly found throughout much of Europe in both coniferous and broad-leaf broken woodland and parkland.

Info 15 1
Similar species: Wasps, Bees, Sawflies And Ants
Species identified by Ferdy Christant
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By Ferdy Christant

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Uploaded Sep 3, 2021. Captured Aug 21, 2021 14:46.
country flag of Netherlands Explore Netherlands 8,314 2,306 0
  • NIKON D850
  • f/1.4
  • 1/250s
  • ISO64
  • 50mm