Northern Wood Ant vs Arrowhead Spiketail
Side-by-side species comparison
| Attribute | Northern Wood Ant | Arrowhead Spiketail |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Formica aquilonia | Cordulegaster obliqua |
| Order | Hymenoptera | Odonata |
| Family | Formicidae | Cordulegastridae |
| Size | 4-8 mm | 70-80 mm |
| Habitat | Forests | Forests |
| Diet | Sap Feeders | Omnivores |
| Regions | Scandinavia, Finland, northern Russia, Scotland | North America |
| Conservation | Least Concern | Least Concern |
Northern Wood Ant
A medium-sized red and black ant that builds large thatch mounds in boreal forests. Colonies can contain hundreds of thousands of workers. The mound orientation and structure help regulate nest temperature in cold climates.
Did You Know?
The ant mound acts as a solar collector, oriented to catch maximum sunlight, keeping the colony up to 20 degrees warmer than ambient temperature.
Arrowhead Spiketail
A large spiketail dragonfly with arrowhead-shaped yellow markings along its dark abdomen. It is found along seepage-fed streams in eastern North American forests.
Did You Know?
Females can insert eggs directly into hard-packed stream gravel using their spike-like ovipositor.