Wood ants are at their most active at this time of the year as no visitor to the woods can fail to notice. Anyone venturing off the paths in sandals (a mistake I only made once) will soon find them between their toes, and the volunteers in the woods get used to them dropping out of the trees and down their necks! They are much larger than the usual garden ants, being up to a centimetre in length, so are very easy to spot. The huge ant’s nests are everywhere, some covering quite a wide area. These can contain up to half a million ants and are roofed with a ‘thatch’ of pine needles, twigs, moss and dried grass and lichen, all of which help to moderate the temperature inside the nest and keep out the rain. The nests are also home to some invertebrates that the ants allow to live there, such as beetles which clean up the debris which accumulates in the nest.
The Forestry Commission consider wood ants to be an ‘keystone’ species - that is, a sign of a healthy woodland with a vital part in the ecosystem. Apparently they prefer well-managed coppiced woodlands with wide rides and don’t like anywhere that becomes too overgrown. Some birds, such as rooks and thrushes, have been known to use the ants to kill off any mites and lice in their feathers. They deliberately disturb the top of the ant’s nest, which prompts the ants to spray formic acid as a defence mechanism, killing any infestation in the birds’ feathers.
In their turn of course, the ants are a food source for woodpeckers, foxes and badgers. The photo below show an ant’s nest in Church Wood.