Wood ants
All over the island you'll spot large mounds of small twigs and pine needles which are wood ant nests, a large red and black ant species locally common but internationally scarce and under threat. In the summer months their nests become alive with activity and can contain up to 100,000 ants.
They play a very important part in the ecology of the woodland, farming the Pine Aphid high in the tree tops for its honeydew, which they take back to the nest and feed their larva and queen, along with other insect prey. The workers are all female and live for a couple of months, the queen can live for up to fifteen years.
Wood ants are good at giving the unwary a nip with their jaws then squirting a tiny drop of formic acid from their tail into the bite. It is this formic acid that the ants use to subdue their prey to carry back to the nest.
Interestingly, some bird species have been seen disturbing the wood ant's nest in order to enrage the ants. They have then stood with their wings spread, allowing the ants to spray them with the acid, killing the parasites that live on the bird's wings.