Devon Wildlife Trust and invertebrate charity Buglife have launched a three-year conservation project to protect two of the UK's rarest ant species by restoring their heathland habitats and establishing new colonies at suitable nearby sites. The narrow-headed ant's only English population lives at the trust's Chudleigh Knighton Heath reserve, while the nationally scarce erratic ant was recently found at its Bovey Heathfield reserve, with both species having declined sharply over the past 150 years mainly due to habitat loss.

The £212,000 project is funded through the government's wildlife restoration campaign. The first phase will focus on improving heathland conditions to secure existing colonies, with a target of doubling narrow-headed ant nests at Chudleigh Knighton Heath from around 200 to more than 400. Other reserves, including Ideford Common and Teigngrace Meadow, will also be developed as new homes for both species, which are named for their pinched-looking heads and erratic, high-energy foraging movements respectively.