---
title: "Behaarde rode bosmier"
description: "Formica rufa — Insecten en spinnen. Formica rufa, also known as the red wood ant, southern wood ant, or horse ant, is a boreal member of the Formica rufa group of ants, and is the type species for that group, being described by Linnaeus."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/southern-wood-ant
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Behaarde rode bosmier

> Formica rufa — Insecten en spinnen. Formica rufa, also known as the red wood ant, southern wood ant, or horse ant, is a boreal member of the Formica rufa group of ants, and is the type species for that group, being described by Linnaeus.

- Scientific name: *Formica rufa*
- Category: `insects` (Insecten en spinnen)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos)
- iNaturalist observations: 8916
- Wikidata: [Q148769](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q148769)
- iNaturalist taxon: [53853](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53853)

## Names

- en: Southern Wood Ant
- de: Rote Waldameise
- es: Hormiga roja de la madera del sur
- fr: Fourmi rousse des bois
- nl: Behaarde rode bosmier
- pl: Mrówka rudnica

## Countries with the most observations

RU (303), NL (182), DK (129), BE (103), AT (86), CZ (78), IT (76), PL (70), CH (63), DE (51), FR (40), SE (35)

## Summary

Formica rufa, also known as the red wood ant, southern wood ant, or horse ant, is a boreal member of the Formica rufa group of ants, and is the type species for that group, being described by Linnaeus. It is native to Eurasia, with a recorded distribution stretching from the middle of Scandinavia to northern Iberia and Anatolia, and from Great Britain to Lake Baikal, with unconfirmed reports of it in the Russian Far East. There are claims that it can be found in North America, but this is not confirmed in specialised literature: no recent publication where North American wood ants are listed mentions it as present…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formica_rufa

## Photo

![Behaarde rode bosmier](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/southern-wood-ant/medium.jpg)

Photo: Philipp Hoenle · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/164495603

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/southern-wood-ant?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).