Somebody Took a Spade to England's Rarest Ants and Walked Off With the Whole Nest. Up to 5,000 Ants Gone, and the Police Have a Crime Number for It.

Of all the things a thief could take in England, somebody went for ants. Not just any ants: narrow-headed ants, the rarest ant species in the country.

Devon Wildlife Trust says a whole nest was removed without permission from its Chudleigh Knighton Heath nature reserve in south Devon, the last stronghold for the species in England. Researchers found it in mid-October during a routine check: just a hollow where the nest used to be, and signs that someone had dug it out with a spade.

A single nest can hold 1,000 to 5,000 ants, plus breeding queens that can live up to 25 years. So this was not a picnic gone wrong. Somebody planned an ant heist.

The trust's species recovery officer called it a significant loss and said it is every bit as serious as illegal raids on wild bird eggs. The reserve is a protected site, and police say damaging or disturbing it can be a crime.

Devon and Cornwall Police are investigating and have given the case a crime reference number. The trust says it is reviewing security, which for a field of ant nests is a sentence nobody expected to read.

No arrests have been reported, and nobody knows why anyone would want a nest of rare ants. The trust says its latest survey still counted 142 active nests at the reserve.