Wood ants (Formica polyctena)

Formica polyctena · Formica

Wood ants (Formica polyctena). Recorded flying from April through June. Tan-orange head, tan-orange mesosoma, dark brown-black gaster. Warm tan head and thorax against a dark gaster, wings clearly attached.

When do wood ants fly?

Recorded flying from April through June.

Flight calendar

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Queen appearance

Queen specimen photo of Formica polyctena, dorsal, 1 of 3

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April Nobile · CC BY-SA

Tan-orange head, tan-orange mesosoma, dark brown-black gaster. Warm tan head and thorax against a dark gaster, wings clearly attached.

fast, high-density trunk-trail runner typical of dense red wood ant supercolonies

Founding care

Socially parasitic: she cannot found a colony alone. Without a host colony's workers to rear her first brood there is nothing for good husbandry to save.

Needs a winter diapause: a cool, dark rest period each year.

Diet: Insects, meat, sugar water, honey etc.

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Habitat

Soil · also thatched mound · typical for this genus

After a flight, watch bare or grassy ground for wingless queens. Scan open ground near woodland for wandering queens and thatch mounds.

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