Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a seaside resort in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. It is located about 107 miles southwest of London, at {{coor d|50.72|N|1.88|W|region:GB}}. The town is bordered by Poole in the west and Christchurch in the east, and overlooks Poole Bay.

Wildlife

The Bournemouth area has long been a place wherein many unusual species of animals and plants can be found. Brownsea island, in nearby Poole Harbour, is one of the few places in the south where the red squirrel still remains, and the ant Formica pratensis had its last stronghold in the area, although it is now thought to be extinct on the mainland. Although described by Farren White as "the common wood ant of Bournemouth" in the mid-19th century, the noted entomologist Horace Donisthorpe found only one colony of true pratensis out of hundreds of F. rufa nests there in 1906. In recent times the last known two colonies disappeared in the 1980s, making this ant the only ant species thought to have become extinct in Great Britain. It does, however, still survive on cliff-top locations in the Channel Islands. The rare narrow-headed ant also used to exist in Bournemouth, although it has died out in the area.

Related Topics:
Brownsea island - Poole Harbour - Red squirrel - Ant - Formica pratensis - Farren White - 19th century - Entomologist - Horace Donisthorpe - F. rufa - 1906 - Channel Islands - Narrow-headed ant

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