Formica exsectoides

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Formica exsectoides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Formicini
Genus: Formica
Species: F. exsectoides
Binomial name
Formica exsectoides
Forel, 1886

Formica exsectoides casent0104768 profile 1.jpg

Formica exsectoides casent0104768 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Synonyms

This species is a temporary parasite. Newly mated queens of Formica exsectoides can start new colonies by infiltrating a nest of Formica subsericea or Formica fusca. Once inside a host nest the queen will find and kill the host queen and her brood will initially be raised by the host workers. Over time, the host workers will all die off, leaving only F. exsectoides workers that have completely taken over maintaining their own colony. Established colonies can grow to be very large and consist of an extensive collection of interconnected, large nest-mounds with many queens. Polygyny arises through the selective adoption of new queens from the natal colony. Colonies may persist for many decades and encompass a large territory. Formica exsectoides workers can be extremely aggressive when a nest is disturbed.

At a Glance • Polygynous  • Temporary parasite  


Common Name
Allegheny Mound Ant
Language: English

Photo Gallery

  • Worker. Photo by Tom Murray.
  • Foraging worker.
  • Myles Standish State Forest, Massachusetts.
  • Wixaboxet, Rhode Island.
  • Haystack Mountain, Massachusetts.
  • A newly established small nest from Ashburnham, Massachusetts. Photo by Tom Murray.

Identification

A member of the Formica exsecta group. Large, bicolored (red head and mesosoma, black gaster) ants with a dull surface. The larger workers can be separated as the vertex of the head is concave. The dorsum of the promesonotum is usually without hairs, at least in the largest workers. The propodeum and petiole are often without erect hairs. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Widespread in United States.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 50.03422222° to 24.83444444°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: Canada, United States (type locality).
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
pChart

Habitat

In New Mexico (Mackay and Mackay 2002) - Mountain meadows through juniper woodlands and grasslands, up to ponderosa pine forests.

Biology

Formica exsectoides build interconnected networks of nest mounds in relatively open forest and at forest edge habitats, e.g., along the edge of an open-field that borders a forest. A thriving colony can have hundreds of nests, millions of workers and a large number of queens - creating a high abundance of ants in localized areas. Foragers are omnivorous and can fuel their busy foraging activities by collecting large quantities of honeydew. Individual mounds can be quite large, more than a meter high and many meters in length. Some colonies can persist for many decades by annually replacing senescencing queens with newly-mated, highly fecund replacements. Workers adjust and shift brood within and between nest locations, and even form new nests, in response to temperature and food availability. Changes in insolation will prompt moves to more optimal mounds with higher temperatures that facilitate brood development times, and areas that are particularly rich with food resources are often exploited by moving portions of the colony to mounds closer to richer food sources.

Flight Period

X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: antkeeping.info.

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

This species is a host for the Microdon fly Microdon abstrusus (a predator) in Maryland (type), Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia (Thompson, 1981).

Life History Traits

  • Queen number: polygynous (Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)

Castes

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • exsectoides. Formica exsectoides Forel, 1886b: xxxviii (w.q.) U.S.A. Emery, 1893i: 653 (m.). Senior synonym of davisi, hesperia: Creighton, 1950a: 513. See also: Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 481; Smith, D.R. 1979: 1456.
  • davisi. Formica exsectoides var. davisi Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 396 (in key) (w.q.) U.S.A. [Formica exsectoides subsp. exsectoides var. davisi Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 484; unavailable name.] Junior synonym of exsectoides: Creighton, 1950a: 513.
  • hesperia. Formica exsectoides var. hesperia Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 396 (in key) (w.) U.S.A. [Formica exsectoides subsp. exsectoides var. hesperia Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 484; unavailable name.] Subspecies of exsectoides: Wheeler, W.M. 1917a: 544. Junior synonym of exsectoides: Creighton, 1950a: 513.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Banschbach V. S., and E. Ogilvy. 2014. Long-term Impacts of Controlled Burns on the Ant Community (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of a Sandplain Forest in Vermont. Northeastern Naturalist 21(1): 1-12.
  • Carroll T. M. 2011. The ants of Indiana (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Master's Thesis Purdue university, 385 pages.
  • Choate B., and F. A. Drummond. 2012. Ant Diversity and Distribution (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Throughout Maine Lowbush Blueberry Fields in Hancock and Washington Counties. Environ. Entomol. 41(2): 222-232.
  • Choate B., and F. A. Drummond. 2013. The influence of insecticides and vegetation in structuring Formica Mound ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Maine lowbush blueberry. Environ. Entomol. 41(2): 222-232.
  • Cole A. C., Jr. 1954. Studies of New Mexico ants. XI. The genus Formica with a description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 29: 163-167.
  • Coovert G. A. 2005. The Ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ohio Biological Survey, Inc. 15(2): 1-207.
  • Coovert, G.A. 2005. The Ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Ohio Biological Survey Bulletin New Series Volume 15(2):1-196
  • Davis W. T., and J. Bequaert. 1922. An annoted list of the ants of Staten Island and Long Island, N. Y. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 17(1): 1-25.
  • Del Toro, I. 2010. PERSONAL COMMUNICATION. MUSEUM RECORDS COLLATED BY ISRAEL DEL TORO
  • Drummond F. A., A. M. llison, E. Groden, and G. D. Ouellette. 2012. The ants (Formicidae). In Biodiversity of the Schoodic Peninsula: Results of the Insect and Arachnid Bioblitzes at the Schoodic District of Acadia National Park, Maine. Maine Agricultural and forest experiment station, The University of Maine, Technical Bulletin 206. 217 pages
  • Dubois, M.B. and W.E. Laberge. 1988. An Annotated list of the ants of Illionois. pages 133-156 in Advances in Myrmecology, J. Trager
  • Ellison A. M., and E. J. Farnsworth. 2014. Targeted sampling increases knowledge and improves estimates of ant species richness in Rhode Island. Northeastern Naturalist 21(1): NENHC-13–NENHC-24.
  • Gregg R. E. 1952. The female of Formica opaciventris Emery (Formicidae). Psyche (Cambridge) 59: 13-19.
  • Gregg, R.T. 1963. The Ants of Colorado.
  • Headley A. E. 1943. The ants of Ashtabula County, Ohio (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). The Ohio Journal of Science 43(1): 22-31.
  • Ipser R. M. 2004. Native and exotic ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Georgia: Ecological Relationships with implications for development of biologically-based management strategies. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, University of Georgia. 165 pages.
  • Ipser, R.M., M.A. Brinkman, W.A. Gardner and H.B. Peeler. 2004. A Survey of Ground-Dwelling Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Georgia. The Florida Entomologist 87(3) 253-260.
  • Ivanov, K. 2019. The ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): an updated checklist. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 70: 65–87.
  • Ivanov K., L. Hightower, S. T. Dash, and J. B. Keiper. 2019. 150 years in the making: first comprehensive list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Virginia, USA. Zootaxa 4554 (2): 532–560.
  • Longino, J.T. 2010. Personal Communication. Longino Collection Database
  • Lubertazi, D. Personal Communication. Specimen Data from Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard
  • Lynch J. F. 1988. An annotated checklist and key to the species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Chesapeake Bay region. The Maryland Naturalist 31: 61-106
  • MacGown, J.A. and JV.G. Hill. Ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina).
  • Mackay W. P., and E. E. Mackay. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 400 pp.
  • Merle W. W. 1939. An Annotated List of the Ants of Maine (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomological News. 50: 161-165
  • Munsee, J. R.; Jansma, W. B.; Schrock, J. R. 1986. Revision of the checklist of Indiana ants with the addition of five new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 1985, publ. 1986 Vol. 95 pp. 265-274
  • Ouellette G. D., F. A. Drummond, B. Choate and E. Groden. 2010. Ant diversity and distribution in Acadia National Park, Maine. Environmental Entomology 39: 1447-1556
  • Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Collection (Pers. Comm. Sven-Erik Spichiger 23 Dec 2017)
  • Piers H. 1922. List of a small collection of ants (Formicidae) obtained in Queen's County, Nova Scotia, by the late Walter H. Prest. Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science, 15(4), 169-173.
  • Prest W. H., and H. Piers. 1922. List of a Small Collection of Ants (Formicidae) obtained in Queen's County, Nova Scotia. Nova Scotian Institute of Science 15(4): 169-173.
  • Sturtevant A. H. 1931. Ants collected on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Psyche (Cambridge) 38: 73-79
  • Talbot M. 1976. A list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Edwin S. George Reserve, Livingston County, Michigan. Great Lakes Entomologist 8: 245-246.
  • Wheeler G. C., J. N. Wheeler, and P. B. Kannowski. 1994. Checklist of the ants of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 26(4): 297-310
  • Wheeler W. M. 1905. An annotated list of the ants of New Jersey. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 21: 371-403.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1906. Fauna of New England. 7. List of the Formicidae. Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History 7: 1-24
  • Wheeler W. M. 1906. Fauna of New England. 7. List of the Formicidae. Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History 7: 1-24.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1913. A revision of the ants of the genus Formica (Linné) Mayr. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 53: 379-565.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1928. Ants of Nantucket Island, Mass. Psyche (Cambridge) 35: 10-11.
  • Wheeler, G.C., J. Wheeler and P.B. Kannowski. 1994. CHECKLIST OF THE ANTS OF MICHIGAN (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE). Great Lakes Entomologist 26:1:297-310
  • Wheeler, G.C., J. Wheeler, T.D. Galloway and G.L. Ayre. 1989. A list of the ants of Manitoba. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Manitoba 45:34-49
  • Wing M. W. 1939. An annotated list of the ants of Maine (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomological News 50:161-165.
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