central and eastern Europe
Fine-art photographic collection
Temnothorax crassispinus
An entire ant colony that can fit inside one acorn — and remodel its doorway grain by grain.
About this species
Temnothorax crassispinus(Karavaiev, 1926)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Temnothorax crassispinus is a small acorn ant of central and eastern Europe. Colonies occupy tiny cavities in acorns, nuts and twigs and can modify nest entrances with soil, sand and plant fragments.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Temnothorax
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
central and eastern EuropeBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Deciduous woodland and wooded parks with abundant fallen acorns and small dead twigs.
Workers forage quietly over leaf litter and low vegetation in warm conditions.
Small arthropods, carrion and sugary liquids.
Social; small colonies often occupy a single acorn-sized cavity.
What makes this species remarkable?
A complete society — queen, workers and brood — can occupy the hollow interior of one fallen acorn on the woodland floor.
Workers carry individual grains of soil and plant fragments to narrow, widen or reshape the entrance until it better matches the colony’s needs.
Experimental changes in cavity volume alter how colonies invest in new queens and males, linking nest architecture directly to reproductive strategy.