Wood Ant
Scientific name: Formica rufa
Quick facts
Common name: southern wood ant
Scientific name: Formica rufa
Family: Formicidae
Habitat: woodland
Diet: insects and invertebrates, aphid honeydew
Predators: birds (especially the green woodpecker), badgers may take eggs and larvae
Origin: native
Woodants are big features of Burnham Beeches. These industrious creatures are the UK’s largest species of ant and they build dome-shaped mounds of twigs, needles and other vegetable matter, often on or near a large piece of decaying wood. Stand quietly and listen for them rustling through the leaf litter! They hunt other insects and you can often see several of them helping each other to carry a caterpillar or beetle back to the nest. They defend themselves by spraying formic acid at attackers – you may be able to smell vinegar near a nest!
