Formica rufa

Taxobox | name = "Formica rufa"
status = LR/nt | status_system = IUCN2.3
status_ref = [IUCN2006|assessors=Social Insects Specialist Group|year=1996|id=8645|title=Formica rufa|downloaded=11 May 2006]

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Formica rufa" worker
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Formicidae
subfamilia = Formicinae
genus = "Formica"
species = "F. rufa"
binomial = "Formica rufa"
binomial_authority = 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. Formic acid was first extracted in 1671 by the English naturalist John Ray by distilling a large number of crushed ants of this species. [cite book|titleJohn Ray, Naturalist: His Life and Works|author=Charles Earle Raven|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1986|isbn=0521310830]

C. septempunctata" attacked by two "F. rufa". 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.

Workers show considerable polymorphism and it has been noted that larger individuals forage further away from the nest. [cite journal|title=The size-distance relationship in the wood ant "Formica rufa"|journal=Ecological Entomology|year=2000|volume=25|pages=226-233|author=Wright PJ, Bonser R & Chukwu UO]

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.

References

External links

* [http://www.educatedearth.net/video.php?id=3587] - Video of formica rufa shooting formic acid.