Ants

There are many ants at Bøtø. You can see them running along the roads and paths, or up and down tree trunks and even out on very thin branches and the edges of flowers. The most common are the large, black and red wood ants, which build large mounds of pine needles, and the small, black garden ants, which drill holes in the ground. They spend a lot of their time looking for aphids. Not because they eat the aphids, but because the aphids exude a sweet liquid, called honeydew, which the ants are crazy about. Actually, it is a kind of aphid dropping that they eat. Aphids feed on plant sap, which they suck up through their proboscis, and what they can’t digest, comes out the other end as honeydew.

You can find out what ants smell like: if you dare! If you find an ant mound covered in ants running back and forth, try to slowly move your hand just above them. This makes the ants think they are going to be attacked, and they’ll spray a special attack-fluid at your hand. The fluid contains formic acid, it’s not dangerous, but try and smell your hand afterwards – not so nice, is it? Remember to wash your hands, otherwise your dinner will taste strange.