The Shining Guest Ant (Formicoxenus nitidulus) is a tiny and elusive ant that lives as an uninvited but harmless ‘guest’ in the nests of much larger Wood Ants (Formica rufa group). For a new Shining Guest Ant queen, establishing a colony is a challenging task. To avoid the inbreeding risk of saying local, she must disperse and not only find the right woodland habitat, but also locate a suitable new host nest. Because of their secretive nature and small size, these ants are underrecorded and their movements are poorly understood. In this entoLIVE webinar, Elva shared new, surprising research about Shining Guest Ant queens’ ability to find new homes, and provided tips on how to spot these elusive creatures on your next walk in the woods.
Tag Archives: ecology
Recording London’s Fungi
In October 2025, we ran two Fungi Field Recorder Days in London at Tolworth Court Farm and Lesnes Abbey Woods. A fascinating diversity of fungi were found – from boletes to brackets and inkcaps to staghorns. The events generated valuable new biological records for these precious green spaces, and promoted mycology and biodiversity appreciation among participants.
Seagrass Conservation: Growing #GenerationRestoration in Europe
Joss Carr (Queen Mary University of London) discusses his MSc Research Project investigating the data quality of UK invertebrate records on iNaturalist.
Networking Nutrients: Nutrients as a Driver of Invertebrate Interactions
Jordan Cuff (Newcastle University) presents research integrating nutrients into networks to investigate the drivers and structures of entomological interactions.
British Springtails: How Many Species Really Are There?
James McCulloch (National Springtail Recorder) discusses the constantly increasing species list for UK Collembola.
Insects That Live In The Sea: Why Are There Are So Few?
Prof Stuart Reynolds delves into the world of marine insects and why there are so few of them.
Insect Welfare: What Benefits Bugs?
Dr Meghan Barrett (Insect Welfare Research Society) explores insect sentience, pain and welfare considerations.
Improving Bee Hotel Design: The Big Bee Hotel Experiment
Prof Dave Gouslon presents how the Buzz Club are investigating the effectiveness of different bee hotels for UK bees.
Biodiversity Net Gain and Invertebrates: Are We Getting It Right?
Natalie Duffus (University of Oxford) presents her research into the ecological outcomes from biodiversity offsetting.
Thriving on the Edge: Grey Seal Abundance and Survival on the Calf of Man
Dr Lara Howe (Manx Wildlife Trust) delves into research on the Grey Seals of the Calf of Man.
Biological Recording 