Narrow Headed Ant, Scottish wildlife, animals, insects

Narrow Headed Ant image The narrow-headed ant (Formica exsecta) or excised wood ant is a species of ant native to Scotland.
A rare formicine ant with a deeply excised head, Formica exsecta forms small mounds up to around a foot in height consisting of much finer material than that used by "true" wood ants of the Formica rufa group.
At 6 mm long this is one of Scotland's largest ants with dull orange legs and body and a brown head and abdomen.
They live in colonies of several hundred and their nests consist of dead vegetation about 40 cm in diameter. Nests are built on grass or heather tussocks in clearings in the Caledonian pinewoods.
It is a rare and very local species found only in Scotland and on a couple of sites in the Devon heathlands. Forest management methods are related to the decline of the narrow-headed ant.

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Narrow Headed Ant

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