Frost-proof ants
5th January 2008, SaturdayI reported finding nests of the nationally scarce ant Temnothorax albipennis in plant stems on the 11 September 2007. At that time I assumed that this was a summer phenomenon and that the ants would retreat underground as the weather cooled. They are still turning up, however. The nest on the photograph below was found in frosty weather last week inside a sea kale stem. This species seems to be widespread on the shingle at Dungeness and Rye. Given that the stems of these plants are very fibrous they must give some protection from the frost. They are not immune to the wind though. The stem with this nest had been caught up in rubbish, and I suspect that quite a few of them get blown away to an uncertain fate if they are not attached to the ground, or hit a reserve manager’s fence!
