9 replies to this topic

[Skwiggledork]

I am starting to keep an ant collection to learn to ID ants and I am getting stuck with the AntWiki.org keys. For the North American keys it goes through how to differentiate the different genera, then when it gets to Formica it has two links to the keys for the pallidefulva group or the rufa group without telling what one I should go to and I also know there is the fusca group in North America.

 

[gcsnelling]

Truth is you are just going to have to learn to differentiate the species groups. Try the various keys and see where it gets you, practice, practice, practice. At the best of times the genus is not an easy group.

[rbarreto]

This is a pretty good place to start for the North-East:

 

https://www.antwiki....England_Formica

[Ferox_Formicae]

There are 7 Formica species groups in North America, fusca, pallidefulva, neogagates, sanguinea, rufa, microgyna, and exsecta​. Learning to distinguish between the different species groups can take some practice, but I can help get you started.

First off is the Formica fusca-group. Ants in the Formica fusca-group can be fairly easily distinguished from other species groups by the presence of at least some appressed, silvery pubescence. Most species are black or brownish, though certain species can be bicolored reddish-brown and black. The Formica fusca-group used to be classified as its own subfamily, Serviformica. This species group contains the following species (Francoeur, 1973):

subpolita

francoeuri

altipetens

montana

canadensis

pulla

occulata

propatula

neoclara

hewitti

neorufibarbis

subcynea

lepida

pachucana

transmontanis

longipilosa

aerata

pacifica

argentea

subsericea

glacialis

podzolica

microphthalma

accreta

sibylla

subelongata

browni

retecta

foreliana

gnava

xerophila

Ants of the Formica pallidefulva-group are sleek, leggy Formica with unique color variations. Four of the five known species (short of F. archboldi) have two distinct color variations, with some mixing involved, a bright yellow color phase in the south and a deep brown, almost black color phase in the north. These ants have a very shiny cuticle, with little to no pubescence present. The species group was previously classified under the subgenus Neoformica. This species group contains the following species (Trager, MacGown, & Trager, 2007):

pallidefulva

dolosa

archboldi

incerta

biophilica

The Formica neogagates-group can be difficult to distinguish from the Formica pallidefulva-group, and the species groups may need to be told apart by looking at individual species. They are smaller than most Formica, and are typically brown and shiny (Fisher & Cover, 2007). This species group contains the following species:

bradleyi

lasiodes

limata

manni

neogagates

obtusopilosa

oregonensis

perpilosa

vinculans

Sanguinea group Formica are slave-raiders. They are easily distinguished by a "median concave impression on the anterior border of the clypeus (Fisher & Cover, 2007)." Previously classified under the subgenus Raptiformica, the Formica sanguinea species group contains the following species:

aserva

creightoni

curiosa

emeryi

gynocrates

pergandei

peberula

rubicunda

subintegra

wheeleri

Ants in the Formica rufa-group are commonly referred to as "wood ants", and includes the famous European Formica rufa. As the taxonomy of this species group is currently a mess (Fisher & Cover, 2007), there is no real distinguishing feature of this species group, apart from their ecological habits of building thatch mounds and being temporary social parasites, features shared with a few other Formica species group. This species group contains the following species (Stockan, Robinson, Trager, Yao & Yeifert, 2016):

reflexa

dakotensis

paralugubris

oreas

obscuriventris

laeviceps

fossaceps

coloradensis

obscuripes

planipilis

subnitens

ravida

integra

ciliata

mucescens

comata

criniventris

prociliata

ferocula

calviceps

propinqua

integroides

The Formica microgyna-group is characterized by their tiny queens, as small as or smaller than the largest workers (Cover & Fisher, 2007). This unique species group contains the following species:

adamsi

densiventris

difficilis

impexa

indianensis

microgyne

morsei

nepticula

nevadensis

postoculata

querquetulata

scitula

spatulata

talbotae

Finally, the Formica exsecta species group. This species group can be easily recognized by the strongly concave posterior border of the head (Cover & Fisher, 2007). This species group only contains three North American species, those species being:

exsectoides

ulkei

opaciventris

I hope you and anyone else who reads this finds it helpful. Just know, I am by no means qualified to be talking about Formica in such detail, and if there is anyone more qualified than I am who would like to add on to this, I welcome it.

[Skwiggledork]

Wow Ferox_Formicae, that definitely is a good amount of info to digest. Thank you.

[Technomyrmex]

You should grab a copy of a field guide to the ants of new england..its really helping me Id my local species here in CT!

[Skwiggledork]

You should grab a copy of a field guide to the ants of new england..its really helping me Id my local species here in CT!

I've been looking at that and Ants of North America A Guide to the Genera, but money is a bit tight at the moment. Eventually I'll get them.

[Ants_Dakota]

I have always wanted to identify formica, so this is helpful.

[AntJohnny]

I have a Formica colony that I haven't been able to identify. There are so many variations and alot of species look alot alike. If I had a good camera or way to zoom in really close I could probably find out. Anyway after that I feel like I know less about Formica then u did before lol.

[AntJohnny]

I have a Formica colony that I haven't been able to identify. There are so many variations and alot of species look alot alike. If I had a good camera or way to zoom in really close I could probably find out. Anyway after that I feel like I know less about Formica then I did before lol.

After writing this post I decided u was going to figure out what species I had. It took awhile before I could find a decent camera to zoom in to see them better. After hours and hours of trying to get lights and everything perfect to get close. And a few days of googling. I am 99 percent sure they are Formica dolosa.