第 1033 號，共 1 402 號

Red wood ant

Formica rufa

無害對人無害。不用擔心。

噴射或吐出吃：每樣都來一點

The red wood ant is a large forest ant that builds big, dome-shaped nests of twigs, grass and pine needles. It lives across much of Europe and northern Asia, from Scandinavia and Great Britain to Lake Baikal. It is special because its colonies can be huge and have several queens, and it can spray formic acid from its abdomen to defend itself.1

分布在

Eurasia: from middle Scandinavia and Great Britain to northern Iberia, Anatolia and Lake Baikal1

歐洲, 亞洲

首頁

Boreal woodland, usually in clearings where sunlight reaches the nest. Nests are built against rotting stumps and are large, visible mounds made of grass, twigs or conifer needles.1

長度

4,5 mm 到 9 mm (0,2 in 到 0,4 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,16 km/h（0,1 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

Its main food is honeydew from aphids, a sugary liquid. It also hunts insects and arachnids and scavenges, and it forages along trails up to 100 m long.1

Red wood ant 的照片 — Red wood ant。照片：unknown。 CC0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Head and thorax (front body) are red, while the abdomen (rear) is brownish-black.1
Usually has dark patches on the head and the upper part of the thorax, though some individuals are more uniformly reddish.1
Workers measure 4.5 to 9 mm long and have large mandibles (jaws).1
Builds large, conspicuous dome-shaped mounds in woodland clearings.1

常被誤認為： Closely related wood ants are hard to separate by eye. Under magnification, the amount of hair is a key clue: this species is hairier than Formica polyctena but less hairy than Formica lugubris.1

毒液力量

噴射或吐出

牠會對攻擊者噴出或吐出刺痛的液體。

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 輕微跟蜜蜂螫差不多或更輕微。對人基本上無害。

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When threatened, workers spray formic acid from their abdomens and defend the nest by guarding entrances and patrolling nearby areas.1

如果牠噴到你

清洗並冷敷螫傷處。
如果傷者呼吸困難、臉部或喉嚨腫脹，或覺得快要昏倒，這就是過敏急症：打緊急電話。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠噴到：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

小到可以坐在你的指甲上

Red wood ant 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻花園蝸牛 大約 0,05 km/h (0,03 mph)

Red wood ant 大約 0,16 km/h (0,1 mph)

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Formic acid was first extracted in 1671 by the English naturalist John Ray, who distilled a large number of crushed ants of this species.1

Wood ants raid the nests of other ants and insects, and some species take captured young back to their own colony as workers.1

Some colonies are huge networks of connected nests, and some of these nests can be several metres high and wide.1

Wood ants collect resin from conifer trees and use it in their nests for structure, protection and antimicrobial defence.1

A large colony may have 100,000 to 400,000 workers and 100 queens.1

Forestry uses this species, which is introduced into an area as a form of pest management.1

給毒液專家

學名: Formica rufa
類群: 螞蟻
家人: Formicidae2
排序: Hymenoptera
各大洲: 歐洲, 亞洲
寶寶: Queens lay eggs, and new nests form by budding from existing nests in spring or by a queen taking over another species' nest.1
對人的危險: 1 / 5: 輕微3