Parasitic Formica
Formica ravida group
Update 1
August 8, 2024
Ants_Dakota was camping in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He came across the tail end of parasitic Formica flights, and caught several queens. He was kind enough to give me the queens he didn't want, so here we are. Shout out to AUD! Anyways, I have two species, both in the rufa group, which for now I'm going to call Formica cf. ravida and Formica cf. obscuriventris. Neither are obscuripes due to their lack of polygyne (we tried, a queen died because of it). I have two of the cf. ravida queens and one of the cf. obscuriventris queens. AUD only wanted a shinier one that could possibly be obscuripes, as he doesn't want to be completely loaded up with Formica colonies. His was one of the healthier queens. I introduced Formica fusca grouop host pupae to all of the queens, and they all began to groom them and transport them to the furthest reaches of their test tubes. The cf. obscuriventris queen seems the healthiest to me, and interestingly her host pupae are naked. Two workers have eclosed so far, with 6 more on the way. She has a total of 25 host brood including a couple larvae they are caring for. The cf. ravida queens have roughly 10 cocooned pupae each. I absolutely love parasitic Formica. While I think pallidefulva group queens are more beautiful per se, I can't get over the robust, aggressive look of ravida group Formica. These queens, unlike most others I've kept, seem to have personality. They're quick, nimble, aggressive, and have great eyesight, all of which contribute to their exaggerated-looking movements and behaviors. They seem to be looking at you - watching you - probably because they are. I'm super excited to keep these queens, and am hoping they lay eggs before hibernation.
Formica cf. ravida Colony A
Formica cf. ravida Colony B
Formica cf. ravida Colony B 8/6/2024 (youtube.com)
Formica cf. obscuriventris
Edited by RushmoreAnts, August 12 2024 - 6:26 PM.
RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
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