Map Snapshot
1 Record
Status
Formica rubicunda is named for the bright reddish coloration of these ants (rubicunda is based on the Latin for reddish or ruddy) (Ellison et al., 2012). This species, like the other members of the Formica sanguinea species group, is a socially-parasitic ant species. Colonies of this ant always have substantial numbers of workers of the Formica fusca species group, which the rubicunda workers capture as pupae from neighboring colonies of their hosts. Raids of this species, and related species, can be a common sight on hot summer afternoons in open habitats containing numerous Formica subsericea nests. Since the host workers do all of the tasks related to colony construction and brood care, the actual nests take on the character of an oversized host colony, with a population greater than the normal size of host colonies. One can often surmise at a glance that a Formica nest is a sanguinea group mixed colony by the unusually large size of the nest, and flipping debris or leaves at the nest entrance make this suspicion easy to confirm. The population ratio of host workers to the slavemakers is greatly skewed in favor of the host workers, who perform all tasks (including foraging, brood care, nest construction, etc.) except for raiding for pupae, which the generally larger rubicunda workers do efficiently.
Relationships
This species is dulotic on species of the Formcia fusca group, which in Maryland probably largely means Formica subsericea, the most common representative.
Seasonality Snapshot
Source: Wikipedia
Formica rubicunda | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Formicinae |
Genus: | Formica |
Species: | F. rubicunda
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Binomial name | |
Formica rubicunda Emery, 1893
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Formica rubicunda is a species of ant in the family Formicidae.[1][2][3][4]
References
[edit]- ^ "Formica rubicunda Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ "Formica rubicunda". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ "Formica rubicunda species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ "AntWeb". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
Further reading
[edit]- Bolton, B. (2016). "Catalogue of the Ants of the World" (PDF). unpublished communication. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
External links
[edit]- Media related to Formica rubicunda at Wikimedia Commons