Life-size ant colony in National Park visitor centre

The National Park visitor centre literally has a new life size attraction: a colony of southern wood ants. The see-through walls and a webcam enable visitors to experience the busy lives of these wound-up insects up close.  

The ant colony used to be one of the most popular attractions at the Texels Museum, the predecessor of Ecomare. The visitors loved the colony and even now people still ask after it. Living creatures hold an irresistible force of attraction for us humans. The National Park visitor centre has long been wanting to build a ‘formicary,' or ant colony, in the present visitor centre

The southern wood ant (formica rufa) is the most suitable ant for such a colony. This species has numerous colonies in the Texel woods. Watching them up close in the wild is not advised as they can give nasty bites; and there are thousands of them!

In the visitor centre they can be seen safely behind glass in an inner wall, hermetically sealed from the rest of the exhibition hall. They have plenty of space here and can continue their fascinating existence undisturbed, giving visitors the chance to observe them in detail.

Those who assume that the ants in the formicary lead a lazy life are wrong. Their archenemy the antlion has moved in with them. This insect's larvae digs funnel shaped traps in the sand. When an ant finds itself on a slope it finds it impossible to climb back up again and slides down into the ruthless jaws of the antlion.

Just like in the woods the ants have to go out foraging for food. They can do this through a tube leading to the entrance hall of Ecomare and the visitors centre. There is also a monitor in the hall on which an enlarged version of events in the nearby nest can be seen. By following the see-through tube you reach the ants colony in the visitors centre. Here there is also a monitor showing an enlarged version of the busy ants lives. The ant activity is also easily visible with the naked eye, as southern wood ants are pretty large: between 6 and 9 mm.