| These are the big ants that you
see when you are out for a walk in the woods, or whatever you
do when you are in the woods, anyway these chaps build big
mounds out of old leaves and other detritus and can be 2 -
3 feet high... so don't sit on one or else you'll know about
it because even though they don't sting. The sting is entirely
absent and the venom is ejected as a spray. The concentration
of the formic acid that is stored in the receptacle of the
venom glands is commonly 50% concentration and can be as much
as 75% concentration, it is quite a feat to be able to store
venom of this concentration, and in a quantity that may ammount
to 20% of the whole body weight of the insect. If you are quiet
near a mound you can quite easily hear the rustling that these
ants make as they are busy with their chores. Protected by
law in some European countries because of it's great value
in destroying forest pests. Again this species of ant can have
more than one queen in the nest. In the picture above, you
can see what each one of the different castes looks like. Below
is a picture of a wood ant defending an aphid farm....yes they
do farm aphids just the same as we do cows. |
Ants 
