last updated 25.May.2005 |
Formica sanguinea group Ants in the sanguinea group (historically referred to as "Raptiformica") are social parasites. They periodically mount organized raids on colonies of other Formica for their brood, which matures into ants that labor in their captors' nests. Species in the sanguinea group vary in their dependence on slaves; some species can subsist on their own, while others, such as F. subintegra, would probably perish without their "slaves". Formica sanguinea group ants have a medial clypeal notch (seen here), a trait that myrmecologists use to identify ants as belonging to this group. In the field, nests are usually of mixed composition, containing both the sanguinea group ants and their slaves. One population of F. pergandei I observed in upstate New York was mixed with F. fusca, F. subsericea, F. neogagates, F. lasioides, and F. nitidiventris, sometimes all in the same nest!
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