#3528 · 🐝 bees, wasps & ants

Blood-red Field Ant

🇳🇱 Bloedrode roofmier ·Formica sanguinea

🐝 Bees, wasps & ants 📍 in the Netherlands

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Philipp Hoenle · CC0
2. © Raoul Gerend · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Santiago Jaume-Schinkel · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
4. © Jonghyun Park · CC BY 4.0
5. © stallegger · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © Tamás Kiss · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Szabó Máté · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. © Philipp Hoenle · CC0
9. © Bartosz Fidor · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. © Hjalte Kjærby · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

Formica sanguinea , or blood-red ant, is a species of slave-maker ant in the genus Formica characterized by the ability to secrete formic acid. These ants It ranges from Central and Northern Europe through Russia to Japan, China, the Korean Peninsula, Africa and also the United States. This species is coloured red and black with workers up to 7 mm long.

base stats

NL sightings 206iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 2,933iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 206 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #26 most seen of the bees, wasps & ants in NL.
2,933 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Pierre André Latreille in 1798 (228 years ago).