Wood ants (Formica rufa)

Formica rufa · Formica

Wood ants (Formica rufa). Recorded flying from May through June. Reddish-orange head, reddish-orange mesosoma, dark brown-black gaster. Classic red-wood-ant bicolor: rusty head and thorax against a near-black gaster, wings attached. Recorded near 24 of the 190 locations Dealate tracks.

When do wood ants fly?

Recorded flying from May through June.

Flight calendar

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Queen appearance

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

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April Nobile · CC BY-SA

Reddish-orange head, reddish-orange mesosoma, dark brown-black gaster. Classic red-wood-ant bicolor: rusty head and thorax against a near-black gaster, wings attached.

fast, erratic trunk-trail runner, the type species for the genus' characteristic darting gait

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.

Advanced

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.

Recorded near

Kamloops St. Catharines Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Etobicoke, Markham, Vaughan, Kitchener, Oakville, Richmond Hill, Burlington, Oshawa, Guelph, Whitby, Milton, Cambridge, Ajax, Thornhill, Waterloo, Brantford Aberdeen Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Nottingham, Derby, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Dudley, Walsall, Mansfield, Telford, Gloucester, Newcastle under Lyme, Solihull, Burton upon Trent, Cheltenham, Chesterfield, Sutton Coldfield, West Bromwich, Worcester Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Swindon, Bournemouth, Newport, Poole, Mendip, Bath Ipswich, Norwich, Saint Peters London, Brent, Islington, Reading, Southend-on-Sea, Brighton, Milton Keynes, City of Westminster, Northampton, Bexley, Luton, Barking, Archway, Sutton, Croydon, Ilford, Slough, Oxford, Enfield Town, Harrow, Cambridge, Basildon, High Wycombe, Colchester, Tottenham, Watford, Crawley, Worthing, Chelmsford, Walthamstow, Dagenham, Basingstoke, Maidstone, Bedford, Woking, Eastbourne, Gillingham, Becontree Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Bradford, Birkenhead, Preston, Oldham, St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, York, Burnley, Huddersfield, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Stockport, Salford, Rotherham, Doncaster, Wakefield Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Middlesbrough Peterborough, Lincoln Plymouth, Exeter Southampton, Portsmouth Boston, South Boston, Worcester, Providence, Lowell, Cambridge, Manchester, New Bedford Buffalo, Amherst Cedar Rapids Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Thornton, Westminster, Arvada, Boulder Fort Collins Greeley Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim, Riverside, Santa Ana, Irvine, San Bernardino, Fontana, Oxnard, Moreno Valley, Huntington Beach, Glendale, Santa Clarita, Garden Grove, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Hollywood, Corona, Lancaster, Palmdale, Pomona, Valencia, Torrance, Pasadena, Orange, Fullerton, Van Nuys, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, East Los Angeles, Koreatown, El Monte, Downey, Costa Mesa, Inglewood, West Covina, Norwalk, Burbank, Universal City, Rialto New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island, Newark, Jersey City, Upper West Side, Jamaica, Yonkers, East Flatbush, East New York, Washington Heights, Astoria, Borough Park, Paterson, Bridgeport, Elizabeth, Stamford, Sunset Park, Sheepshead Bay, North Stamford, Harlem, East Harlem, Elmhurst, Bushwick, Gravesend, Corona, Edison Reno Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Provo, West Jordan Victorville

More Formica species

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