March of the ants
Country Life UK|November 11, 2020
Insects are seldom loved and are often loathed, feared or disregarded, but they are an integral part of our ecosystem. In an extract from his new book, Framing Nature, Laurence Rose joins the effort to save the narrow-headed ant
Laurence Rose
March of the ants

THE biologists B. K. Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson said: ‘Let us not despise the lowly ants, but honour them. For a while longer at least, they will help to hold the world in balance to our liking, and they will serve as a reminder of what a wonderful place it was when we first arrived.’

If conservation means to restore a mutually rewarding relationship between the human and the non-human world, and if this begins with not despising but honouring, then invertebrates present us with a challenge. Few are loved, many are loathed or feared, and all the others —some 40,000 species in the UK and perhaps 10 million worldwide—are simply disregarded.

At 1.11 pm on 26 November 2018 the endangered narrow-headed ant Formica exsecta returned to Bovey Heathfield nature reserve after an absence of fourteen years. Stephen Carroll marked the time precisely: he had for years been one of a very few people to concern themselves with the fate of this little-known species. Until 1846 the narrow-headed ant was unregarded, warranting not even the faint distinction of a name of its own. First described scientifically by Finnish entomologist Wilhem Nylander, it was located near Bournemouth in 1865, and over the following thirty-seven years Britain’s small community of myrmecologists found it in the New Forest, the Isle of Wight, and, in 1902, the extensive heathlands around Bovey Tracey in Devon.

この記事は Country Life UK の November 11, 2020 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Country Life UK の November 11, 2020 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

COUNTRY LIFE UKのその他の記事すべて表示
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 分  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 分  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 分  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 分  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 分  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 分  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 分  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024