The name ‘wood ant’ in The Netherlands refers to three Formica species. But in North America there are other wood ants that build hills. In this publication these nests are called ant mounds. In the document is explained that wood ants are not that common as in Europe and that these ants do not play a large role in the Forests ecosystem like in Eurasia.  There is also a scheme that shows why these ants are more prevalent in North America than in Europe and Europe.

One of the reasons described is the influence of wildfires. Read more about this on the next page.

Questions:

1. What was the influence to the distribution of wood ants by the trade of Scandinavian wood in Europe last centuries?
2. Wood ants near Venlo do well in production forests. These forests produced Spruce wood for coal mines in the past. Did these forests play a role in the distribution of wood ants?

Sources:

• Red wood ants in North America (PDF)