Northern Wood Ant vs Round-bodied Scydmaenine
Side-by-side species comparison
| Attribute | Northern Wood Ant | Round-bodied Scydmaenine |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Formica aquilonia | Scydmaenus tarsatus |
| Order | Hymenoptera | Coleoptera |
| Family | Formicidae | Staphylinidae |
| Size | 4-8 mm | 1-2 mm |
| Habitat | Forests | Forests |
| Diet | Sap Feeders | Predators |
| Regions | Scandinavia, Finland, northern Russia, Scotland | Europe |
| 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.
Round-bodied Scydmaenine
A minute, convex rove beetle of the subfamily Scydmaeninae with a distinctively constricted waist between thorax and abdomen. It is a specialized predator of armored mites in forest soil.
Did You Know?
This tiny beetle has evolved specialized mandibles that can crack open the heavily armored shells of oribatid mites, prey that most other predators cannot exploit.