Devon heathland plan to support two rare species of ant

Two of the UK's rarest ant species are being supported by a new conservation project.

Chiefs at Devon Wildlife Trust said they plan to improve the heathland homes of both the narrow-headed and erratic ants, and start new colonies at suitable nearby sites.

The only English population of the narrow-headed ant lives in the trust's Chudleigh Knighton Heath nature reserve and the nationally scarce erratic ant was recently discovered at the charity's Bovey Heathfield nature reserve.

The three-year project by the wildlife trust and invertebrate conservation charity Buglife has been funded with £212,000 from the government's wildlife restoration campaign.

Buglife conservation officer Laura Krusin said: "The narrow-headed ant is only found at one site in England and the erratic ant is also nationally scarce, putting these species' survival at risk."

She said both species had seen declines in their numbers over the last 150 years, mostly because of the loss of their heathland homes.

Chris Moulton, of the Devon Wildlife Trust, said the first step would be to improve the heathland habitat in the nature reserves to secure the existing ant colonies.

He said the target was to double the number of narrow-headed ant nests from 200 to more than 400 at Chudleigh Knighton Heath.

Other heathland reserves, including those at Ideford Common and Teigngrace Meadow, would become home to both species, he added.

Krusin said the narrow-headed ant, a wood ant, was named for the "pinched-look" of its head and was also found at a few sites in Scotland .

The erratic ant was named for its "high-energy foraging behaviour which sees it scamper with meandering and unpredictable movements", she added.

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