Formica opaciventris

Formica opaciventris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Formica
Species:	F. opaciventris
Binomial name
	Formica opaciventris; Emery, 1893 Specimen labels

This is an uncommon and ecologically conservative grassland species (Trager, pers. comm.) that lives in soil mounds or mounds with some thatching. In New Mexico it is found in Sagebrush scrub and meadows up to the edge of forests (Mackay and Mackay 2002).

Identification

Workers can be recognized as the posterior border is concave as seen in full-face view, and the propodeum is somewhat angulate as seen in profile. The pronotum has several spatulate hairs and the mesonotum has a few short, bristly hairs. The dorsum of the gaster has many scattered, short, bristly hairs and has sparse, silver, appressed pubescence. This species would be considered a member of the microgyna group if the posterior border was not concave. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 50.72° to 33.69728°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

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

Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Habitat

Biology

Association with Other Organisms

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 mutualist for the aphid Aphis asclepiadis (a trophobiont) (Jones, 1927; Saddiqui et al., 2019).
This species is a mutualist for the aphid Aphis medicaginis (a trophobiont) (Jones, 1927; Saddiqui et al., 2019).
This species is a host for the braconid wasp Elasmosoma petulans (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

Castes

Nomenclature

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

opaciventris. Formica exsectoides var. opaciventris Emery, 1893i: 653 (w.m.) U.S.A. Gregg, 1952b: 14 (q.). Subspecies of exsectoides: Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 484. Raised to species: Creighton, 1950a: 514.

Description

References

Cantone S. 2017. Winged Ants, The Male, Dichotomous key to genera of winged male ants in the World, Behavioral ecology of mating flight (self-published).
Creighton, W. S. 1950a. The ants of North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 104: 1-585 (page 514, raised to species)
Emery, C. 1893k. Beiträge zur Kenntniss der nordamerikanischen Ameisenfauna. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Geogr. Biol. Tiere 7: 633-682 (page 653, worker, male described)
Gregg, R. E. 1952b. The female of Formica opaciventris Emery (Formicidae). Psyche (Camb.) 59: 13-19. (page 14, queen described)
Siddiqui, J. A., Li, J., Zou, X., Bodlah, I., Huang, X. 2019. Meta-analysis of the global diversity and spatial patterns of aphid-ant mutualistic relationships. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 17: 5471-5524 (doi:10.15666/aeer/1703_54715524).
Wheeler, W. M. 1913i. A revision of the ants of the genus Formica (Linné) Mayr. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 53: 379-565 (page 484, subspecies of exsectoides)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Allred D. M. 1982. Ants of Utah. The Great Basin Naturalist 42: 415-511.
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.
Cover S. P., and R. A. Johnson. 20011. Checklist of Arizona Ants. Downloaded on January 7th at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/AZants-2011%20updatev2.pdf
Gregg, R.T. 1963. The Ants of Colorado.
Johnson R. Personnal Database. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/resources.htm
Mackay W. P., and E. E. Mackay. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 400 pp.
Michigan State University, The Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection. Accessed on January 7th 2014 at http://www.arc.ent.msu.edu:8080/collection/index.jsp
Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1988. A checklist of the ants of Wyoming. Insecta Mundi 2(3&4):230-239