Red-barbed ant  (Formica rufibarbis)

This ant has been dubbed 'the mining ant' in the past, as it nests underground or beneath stones (2). The entrance to the nest is a small hole, which may be concealed by a tussock of grass (2), nests usually extend to depths of around 30 cm below ground (5). Each mature colony can consist of 2-3 queens, and over 500 workers (5). The workers are aggressive, and attack other ant species and insects (5). The queen or queens are housed in a special chamber at the very bottom of the nest (2). In healthy colonies, winged reproductive females and males are produced each year, they fly during June and July (5), and new colonies are founded by a single queen (5). After mating, the females (now termed queens) attempt to establish a new colony. They only mate once during their lifetime, storing sufficient sperm inside their body to enable them to produce eggs for the rest of their life. Queens are the only members of the colony to reproduce; the workers feed the queen and tend to the brood. They forage alone for invertebrates, carrion, nectar and honey-dew produced by aphids (3), and can even rob prey from southern wood ant (Formica rufa) workers (2). After obtaining food, red-barbed ant workers set off in a straight line back to the nest; they do not follow scent trails like many other species of ant (2).