I was standing at the roadside, waiting for a friend, when I noticed the ants nurturing a batch of aphids on a stem. We had been walking through a large heathland and got separated on our way back to the car. I reasoned that my friend, being a curious biologist, probably found and stopped by something of interest, and so I had a little time to try and take a few shots of the ants activity. I have never really given ants a go before, so I had no idea which traits are typically used in identification. The idea was to take enough frames to identify them later at home. My first impression though was “Probably one of those red forest ants very clear from childhood memory (ouch).”
Formica sanguinea ants tending to lot of aphids
10 minutes later my friend showed up, I got up from the ground and we left for home. When I arrived home I showed the pictures to people who know stuff about ants. There wasn’t the slightest doubt as they proved my first impression wrong. It was the slavemaking Formica sanguinea. It’s Danish name translates literally to “Blood-red Raptor Ant”. Wow, awesome fierce name, what can it do?! Read the rest of this entry »