A recent theory within behavioural ecology suggests that some animal behaviour traits are consistent over time and over different contexts as part of an animals’ “personality”. Animal personality has generally been accepted within vertebrates, but the idea of invertebrates expressing personality has long been meet with scepticism. In this study, I investigate if red wood ants (Formica rufa) show exploratory and bold behaviours that fulfil the personality criteria. Moreover, I test if this species prefers dark surfaces instead of white surfaces (scototaxis). My experiment included tests of 30 ants and two different behaviour trials targeting exploration and boldness that repeated over three different time periods. My results shows that the exploratory behaviours were correlated between trials conducted at different times and therefore, that this behaviour was repeatable. It was also clear that the red wood ant consistently showed large between individuals, indicating difference in personality. However, the studied ants did not show preferences for dark surfaces and the performance in the scototaxis trial did not correlate with any other measurable behaviour. The result of this study suggests that Formica rufa show behaviours that match the animal personality criteria for exploratory behaviour, but my result could not validate that bold behaviours were repeatable across time and context.

Ants belonging to the Formica rufa group (wood ants) and their mounds have a large impact on forest ecosystems. This makes them considered keystone species. Several species of wood ants are threatened globally according to the IUCN red list. In this degree project mound densities and mound volumes were evaluated and compared between Norway spruce monocultures and high part Norway spruce woodland key habitats (WKHs) in southern Sweden. There were no significant differences in neihter mound densities nor mound volumes between the two stand types. However, mounds were distributed differently within the stand types and tree density correlated negatively to mound density in both stand types. Wood ant mounds were absent in the interior of monoculture stands, except in light gaps, while several mounds where located in the interior of WKHs. My results suggest that there is not enough light in the interior of monocultures in southern Sweden for wood ants to be able to colonize. Large monoculture areas may lack wood ants if gaps are missing. Therefore, gaps inside monocultures should be made more common in Swedish forests in order to benefit wood ants in production forests. Small clearcuts seem to benefit wood ant dispersal in monocultural stands. Therefore, smaller clearcuts should be preferred over the large areas presently clearcutted due to the negative effects of large clearcuts on wood ants.

This diploma thesis analyses pupils' knowledge of invertebrate animals. Knowledge was tested through pupils' drawings and an educational test. An analysis was also made on the textbooks the students were taught from. The research took place on a total of 186 pupils in first-stage elementary education at two elementary schools. The research results show what knowledge the pupils have of invertebrate animals.