Formica uralensis

Formica uralensis
Conservation status
	; Near Threatened (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Formica
Species:	F. uralensis
Binomial name
	Formica uralensis; Ruzsky, 1895 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Formica pratensis superba Wheeler, W.M., 1933;

This is a boreal species which constructs small mounds from plant material. In some areas of Russia it is associated with bogs (Zryanin & Zryanina, 2007).

At a Glance

• Polygynous • Temporary parasite

Identification

Head entirely black, dark area on dorsum of promesonotum dense black, gaster black, rest of alitrunk and appendages yellowish to brownish red. Head as broad as long, antennal scape broad and short. Frontal triangle sculptured and dull. Bristlelike hairs on dorsum of head, gula, alitrunk and gaster usually present but variable in number. Length: 4.5-8.0 mm (Collingwood 1979).

Keys including this Species

Key to Palaearctic Formica rufa group species

Distribution

Northeast Europe including N. Germany, Baltic States and West USSR; one record from Swiss Alps. Widely distributed in Mongolia and Central Siberia (Collingwood 1979).

The Reinig Line faunal divide separates East Siberian, Inner Mongolian, Chinese and Tibetan species from those of Central Siberia, West Siberia and the Turanian region (DE LATTIN, 1967). In ants, the Reinig Line is crossed only by a cold resistant species including Camponotus herculeanus, Formica exsecta, Formica gagatoides, Formica lugubris, Formica manchu, Formica picea, Formica pisarskii, Formica uralensis, Lasius flavus, Leptothorax acervorum and Tetramorium sibiricum (DLUSSKY, 1967; FRANCOEUR, 1983; SEIFERT, 2000, 2021a, 2021b).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 70.377854° to 46.36666667°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Belarus, China (type locality), Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation (type locality), Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine.

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.

Biology

In Europe F. uralensis is typically found on lowland open mosses with scattered trees, more occasionally on drier heath. Nests may be isolated or in groups and are built up of leaf litter and twigs into rounded dome. The nest surface is of fine material which covers a large brood incubation chamber resting on a surface of coarse long twigs. Rosengren (1969) has studied its habits in South Finland; unlike members of the Formica rufa group, this species does not go deep within the nest to hibernate but the ants clump together under peat moss or among tree roots away from the summer nest. Food is mainly honey dew from surrounding betula scrub or pines. Although this species has superficial similarities to F. rufa group species it is morphologically well differentiated with its broad black head, short thick antennae and wide coarsely sculptured frontal triangle.

Nests are usually polygynous and may reproduce by colony fission but fresh colonies may also originate from adoption of fertile queens by Formica transkaucasica. Alatae occur in July. Its marshy habitat in Europe contrasts with the dry steppe habitat in Asia and may be related to the inability of this species to survive aggressive competition from other wood ant species since according to Rosengren (1969), although F. uralensis defends its territory it is easily overwhelmed by other ants such as Formica sanguinea and Myrmica rubra.

This species is suspected (needs confirmation) to suffer from labial gland disease, a condition caused by an unknown agent, in Japan (Elton, 1991).

Flight Period

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

Source: antkeeping.info.

Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.

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: 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 xenobiont for the ant Formicoxenus nitidulus (a xenobiont) (Holldobler & Wilson 1990; Busch 2001; Martin et al. 2007).

Life History Traits

Queen number: polygynous
Compound colony type: temporary parasite
Colony founding: social parasite
Nest site: thatch mound

Castes

Nomenclature

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

uralensis. Formica uralensis Ruzsky, 1895: 13 (w.q.m.) RUSSIA. [Also described as new by Ruzsky, 1896: 69.] Senior synonym of superba: Wu, 1990: 4. See also: Emery, 1909b: 189; Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 448; Karavaiev, 1936: 249; Stitz, 1939: 325; Dlussky, 1967a: 79; Kutter, 1977c: 274; Collingwood, 1979: 135; Kupyanskaya, 1990: 189.
superba. Formica pratensis var. superba Wheeler, W.M. 1933c: 65 (w.) CHINA. Raised to species: Santschi, 1941: 278. Junior synonym of uralensis: Wu, 1990: 4.

Type Material

Formica uralensis: Syntype, Russian Federation.
Formica pratensis superba: Syntype, 6 workers, Eastern Tomb, near Beijing, China, Chi Ho.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Wheeler (1933) as Formica pratensis superba - Length 5-6.5 mm.

Head, including the frontal area, thorax and abdomen opaque; mandibles and legs, including the coxae, distinctly shining. Eyes not hairy. Erect hairs golden yellow, very few on the head, gula and promesonotum; border of petiole ciliate; gaster with sparse, blunt, apparently deciduous hairs; pubescence grey, very fine, dense on the coxae and legs; more dilute and not concealing the opaque surface on the gaster. Thorax and petiole rather rich red; mandibles dark brown; entire head, center of pronotum and anteromedian portion of mesonotum and the gaster deep black, decidedly darker than the similar regions in the typical pratensis of Europe, which are really dark brown or brownish black. First gastric segment with a large, transverse red spot just above the petiolar articulation; antennae nearly black; legs dark brown, coxae and trochanters somewhat paler and more reddish; border of petiole not infuscated.

Karyotype

See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.

Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

n = 26 (Finland) (Rosengren et al., 1980).

References

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