Narrow headed ant  (Formica exsecta)

This ant is restricted to parts of southern England and the Scottish Highlands (4). In England, old records exist from the New Forest, Bournemouth, and parts of South Devon. There was also a population on the Isle of Wight, but the species has not been found there since 1913 (4). In Scotland it is known mainly from the mid Spey Valley, including the forests around Loch Morlich, Abernethy Forest and Carrbridge (4). It is currently only known in England from two sites in south Devon (5). It has undergone a serious decline, and it is thought that it may become extinct in England in the near future (4). This ant has a wide but patchy distribution in Europe (3). Elsewhere it if found from southern Spain reaching as far east as Mongolia and northern China, and from the Appenines to Arctic Scandinavia in the north (4).

Inhabits open lowland heathland or moorland in southern England and Caledonian pine forest in Scotland (4), where it is found in glades and at the forest edge (2). It may occasionally be found in rides and clearings in woodland, in scrub and by roads or paths (4).