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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2012 18:14:34 GMT 1
Hey MANF, well today i went on a bike ride with my family in a wood nearby to my house called 'Abbots wood'. The wood has a mixture of trees from oak to pine. Which is perfect for wood ants (Formica rufa). Every where i looked i saw a Formica rufa worker out foraging. Here are some pictures of the Formica rufa mounds: This mound has a stick going through it, it probably fell and the ants have formed their nest around it. I also found a Formica sp colony which i will make a journal for.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2012 23:07:35 GMT 1
Well in the summer I went to Abbots wood again but with out the bikes. This gave me a lot more time to look at the different wood ant mounds and other species of ants. We also took my mums camera which we recently bought a macro for. Here is what I took... A mound I noticed that one of the colonies that I found were using fallen logs as pathways to foraging grounds. One of the largest mounds we found. On the mound above I noticed a fairly large group of workers clustered around something. When I had a closer look there was a queen underneath them all. I wondered why a queen was out on top of the mound at this time of day (around 10 or 11, we got up early for some reason...) because I know that some times queens come to the surface when the workers do when it reaches the peak of heat in the day. But it wasn't the right time of day for this. Maybe she is a social parasite of Formica rufa and she is letting out a pheromone to attract workers too her? Or it could of been a queen coming back from a nuptil flight to re join the colony? As I did find a dead queen on the foot path being dragged by a worker. Oh and when ever I go out too Abbots wood I will post all the pictures on this thread for now on.
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Post by Myrm on Nov 2, 2012 6:50:41 GMT 1
Unfortunately, AntBoy Bin Lid, I am unable to see these pictures as Photobucket and other similar sites are blocked on the ship's computers. I'd love to see them; are you able to email them to my warship account please? ;D
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2012 9:34:08 GMT 1
Ooooh maybe! I'll try soon.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2012 11:40:05 GMT 1
Cool pictures antboy I think the queen on the mound may be the resident queen, because its a bit late for nuptial flights.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2012 12:24:27 GMT 1
Ah no, these photos were taken around mid August. I've just been late putting them up. And thanks you.
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