Wood Ant Hunting Afternoon

[Wood~Ant]

Jen and I paid a visit to our local wood ants this afternoon. The nearest nests are about 11 miles from us, but it only takes a 15 minute drive to get there. As usual I made videos, so here they are.

[shane]

nests seem big where you are. and nice videos

[Jenny]

I was prepared this year, with trousers tucked into walking boots Last year was a skirt with opened sided sandels, I was cursing and hopping at the rufas attacking in vengence at me treading across their foraging trails.
They always find the camera strap to climb up on, as one had worked its way into my shoulder, ouch! They always find your skin, even when you come away you are left thinking there must be some up the trouser leg lurking 

[Wood~Ant]

Jul 11, 2015 23:48:59 GMT shane said:

nests seem big where you are. and nice videos

As you can see from this photo Jen took, the terrain is a mixture of woodland and very sandy heath land.

[Deleted]

I think it's fascinating that if you look at a Formica rufa mound careful you'll notice how the south facing side is always a longer slope than the other side. This is so that more surface area is facing the sun and therefore more of its heat is captured, warming the nest up nicely.

[Wood~Ant]

I also find that when approaching a wood ant mound to take photos or video, it is best to locate their foraging trails and avoid them as the ants are alerted to your approach long before you get close to the mound. A stealth approach pays off, as you are less likely to come under attack from hundreds of ants, though a few scouts always find you and will attack.
The northern side of the mound is better as well, as it is more shaded; but if you want really great video or photos then go to the side of the mound which faces west and take the south side where the sunlight brings out the lovely colour of this ant species, and the sun doesn't reflect on the lens of the camera/camcorder.

[Wood~Ant]

I did not get to add this video yesterday, but it shows what can go wrong if you approach a very big mound which is surrounded by bracken and bramble, and don't watch out for ants climbing up your trousers and onto your hands.

[Zarbi]

That looks like it was painful. Fun, but a bit painful. 

[deansyme]

Wish we had them up here

[Wood~Ant]

Jul 12, 2015 17:27:27 GMT deansyme said:

Wish we had them up here

You might find the Scottish wood ants, Formica aquilonia, or the Hairy Wood Ant Formica lugubris just north of Edinburgh and Glasgow up into the Highlands.