Formica rufa
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 Formica rufa worker
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| Formica rufa L. |
Formica rufa, also known as the southern wood ant or horse ant, is a boreal member of the Formica rufa group of ants, commonly found throughout southern England in both coniferous and broad leaf broken woodland and parkland. They are the largest native ant species of the British isles, workers can measure from 8-10 mm in length. They have large mandibles and like many other higher ant species are able to dispense formic acid from their abdomens as a defence.
A common diet for a wood ant colony is invertebrates found around the nest, particularly aphids harvested from the surrounding trees, although they are voracious scavengers. Nests of these ants are large, conspicuous, dome-shaped edifices, usually situated in woodland clearings, where the sun's rays can reach them. F. rufa is commonly used in forestry and is often introduced into an area as a form of pest management.
F. rufa is highly polygynous and often re-adopts post-nuptial queens from its own mother colony, leading to old, multi gallery nests which may contain well over a hundred egg-producing females. These colonies can often measure several metres in height and diameter. Formica rufa is aggressively territorial, and will often attack and remove other ant species from the area. Nuptial flights take place during the springtime and are often marked by savage battles between neighbouring colonies as territorial boundaries are re-established.
The species can also establish nests using the mechanism of temporary social parasitism, the hosts being species of the Formica fusca group, notably F. fusca and F. lemani, although incipient F. rufa colonies have also been recorded from nests of F. glebaria, F. cunnicularia and similar species including the Lasius genus.
The Formica rufa is on the so-called Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
[edit] References
- Social Insects Specialist Group (1996). Formica rufa. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
