Invertebrate / Hymenoptera / Bees, wasps, and ants

Southern Red wood ant Formica rufa.  One of the most common species of European wood ant.

Shining Guest ant Formicoxenus nitidulus worker.  This tiny species is extremely shiny, and only 2.75mm long.

Thorax and hairs detail of Southern red wood ant Formica fusca.  This species has few, short hairs.  There are no hairs on the head of the Southern red wood ant.

Thorax and hairs detail of Hairy wood ant Formica lugubris.  Hairs are longer and more numerous than other wood ant species, and extend beyond the eyes.

Social parasitism in ants. The queen of the Slave maker ant, Formica sanguinea, being tended to by workers of Dusky ant Formica fusca.

Wood ants guide cover image Cairngorms national park and Southern red wood ants Formica fusca practising trophallaxis

Colour roughs for: Southern red wood ant Formica rufa, Hairy wood ant Formica lugubris, Scottish wood ant Formica aquilonia, and Slender ant Leptothorax acervorum.  Used to check colours before proceeding to final illustrations.

Ant species colour guide rough for: Southern red wood ant Formica rufa, Hairy wood ant Formica lugubris, Scottish wood ant Formica aquilonia, Slender ant Leptothorax acervorum, Slave-making Blood red ant Formica sanguinea, Shining guest ant Formicoxenus nitidulus, and Narrow headed ant Formica exsecta.  These sketches were used to check the colouration before moving onto the […]

Male wood ant F. lugubris Hairy wood ant.  These males have dark bodies and yellow legs and genitals.  Like the females, they have wings.  Unlike the females, shortly after mating during the nuptial flight, they will die.

Queen ant F. aquilonia Scottish wood ant with wings.  Newly emerged queens have wings, and following their mating and nuptial flight, they bite these off.  This enables them to burrow underground and set up a new ant nest and colony, and to begin laying eggs and raising young.

Pupae of a wood ant, both within its cocoon, and extracted.  Detail from a life cycle ant illustration by Lizzie Harper natural history and sciart illustrator

Larvae of wood ant showing their translucent bodies and segmentation.

Illustration of several eggs of a wood ant.

Detail of the thorax of the Scottish wood ant Formica aquilonia.  The illustration shows distribution of hairs up to the eyes.  This species is often confused with the Hairy wood ant which has longer hairs.

White tailed bumble bee Bombus lucorum nestled in the florets of a thislte head

Common wasp Vespa vulgaris feeding on a ripe pear; sketch in colour

Red ant Mymrica Rubra swift ink sketch with red wash and stippling

Sabre wasp Rhyssa persuasoria using her long ovipositor to lay an egg with her long terminal cerci pointing upwards

Driver ant Dorylinae in balck and white, side view

Honey bee Apis mellifera visiting the pear blossom in spring

Yellow meadow ant Lasius flavus carrying an egg across the dirt

Wildlife home diagram for a bumblebee nest showing a wooden box full of hay or straw, in a hole under a stone with a pipe for access

Wildlife home diagram for a bumblebee nest with an inverted flower pop and a length of hose pipe as the entryway

Bilberry bumblebee Bombus monticola in amongst heath plants and heather with distinctive orange furry abdomen