Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘If I were to miniaturise myself it would be like facing a pride of lions’: Keith Broomfield searches for ants

A wood ant on a plant stem next to Black Bean aphids
Wood ant (Formica rufa) with Black Bean Aphid (Aphis fabae)

It is my cardinal rule to never intentionally disturb wildlife, but nonetheless, I couldn’t resist gently placing my finger on top of this wood ant nest deep in Abernethy Forest in Strathspey to see how these fascinating insects reacted to a potential threat – an experiment, if you like.

As I suspected, their response was swift, with several quickly swarming over my finger and trying to bite it – although their jaws were too small to inflict pain; more a minor irritant.

These workers were mighty feisty, and if I were to miniaturise myself to their level, then it would be like facing a pride of lions.

I withdrew my finger and sat cross-legged on a thick carpet of blaeberry by this large domed nest, examining the busy activity of the wood ants as they swarmed over the surface, constantly on the move.

The dome was a marvel of engineering, covered in a thatch of pine needles, small twigs and other forest detritus, which keeps the nest dry and also helps absorb solar energy, ensuring the temperature of the nest is higher than the surroundings.

Somewhere deep inside will be the queen – or possibly several queens, whose sole job is to lay eggs.

Workers

Males are produced in spring, who will mate with the queens, but the overall majority of ants are workers, who are females that do not reproduce.

A wood ant on a leaf
Wood ant (Formica rufa)

Each worker has a specific job, some keep the nest repaired, others forage for food, while many will tend the queen and her brood.

It is a complex social set-up, an insect society where each individual has place and purpose. Indeed, the nest community could be likened to a single organism, but one made up of many different parts.

Unlike a conifer plantation, the open-spaced character of the naturally occurring Scots pines here near Boat of Garten ensures there is a luxuriant growth of blaeberry, cowberry and other plants on the woodland floor, which offers shelter for many invertebrates, which in turn provides food for other creatures.

Tranquility 

The weather is warm and flies buzz around my head.

I am reluctant to leave, for it had taken me a while to find this wood ant’s nest.

So, I stay a while longer, absorbing the peace and tranquillity of the forest.

A family party of coal tits bound through the branches above and I hear the voluminous song of a wren nearby.

This is how the forest looked since the dawn of time, a surviving remnant of the wildwood.

A wood ant on a plant stem next to Black Bean aphids
Wood ant (Formica rufa) with Black Bean Aphid (Aphis fabae)

But all is not as it seems, for there have been changes over the millennia; wolves and lynx once roamed here, and beavers would have lodged by a nearby loch.

So, in that sense this isn’t a true wildwood – but maybe one day, with a bit of determination and imagination, it will once more become so, and that really would be something.

Info

The main food of wood ants is sugary honeydew produced by aphids, which the worker ants ‘milk’ from them.

The developing ant brood also require protein, and thus, a variety of insects are also devoured.