Woodants can appear on the surface of their nest as early as February (as long as the sun is out) following the winter hibernation. This happens especially after birds with long bills (e.g. woodpeckers) have formed long thin tunnels into the mound in a search for ants to eat during winter. As the sunshine illuminates these tunnels the ants detect the warmth and pour out onto the surface. here they quickly discover its still cold and do a prompt about turn back into the nest.
However, they capture a bit of warmth in their bodies due to their dark colouring and transfer the few calories they've won into the nest. Hibernating workers soon pick up the excess radiant heat and head for the surface in turn. Magnify this effect by the numbers of ants in a woodant nest and the interior starts to heat up significantly to the point to allow the workers to start moving permanently back into their nest dome. Hence, compared to other Formica ants that don't conserve their body heat (sanguinea, fusca) in this way, the rufa queens start to lay eggs a lot earlier in the year (end of February) and their nests become a lot bigger and populated as a result.
Tags: Formica | Frequently Asked Question | Keeping Ants | Behaviour
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