Formica clara
| Formica clara | ||||||||||
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Formica clara syn. lusatica |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Formica clara | ||||||||||
| Forel , 1886 |
Formica clara from the subfamily of the scale ants (Formicinae) belongs to the genus of the forest ants ( Formica ) and there to the subgenus of the slave ants ( Serviformica ).
features
The workers are 6 to 8 millimeters tall, the queens 9 to 11 millimeters. The guests and the head are matt black to dark gray in color, the thorax is light red and the legs are brownish. Smaller workers have a lower proportion of red. The species can easily be confused with Formica cunicularia and Formica rufibarbis .
distribution
Formica clara is widespread from Europe to Central Asia. The species is distributed in large parts of Germany from planar to collin , but less common than the other Serviformica species. The main areas of distribution are in the north-east of Germany ( Brandenburg , Saxony-Anhalt ) and along the Main from Rheinhessen to Franconian Switzerland . The species is absent in Schleswig-Holstein and southern Bavaria.
habitat
Formica clara is a very dry and warmth-loving steppe species, so its occurrence is limited to patchy dry grassland over sand or limestone. It can also be found in the area of little overgrown road and road embankments. Because of the special demands on the habitat, it is very scattered to rare in Central Europe.
biology
The nests are created underground. They are mostly simple earth nests without nest mounds. However, there are small piles of sand or earth around the numerous large nest entrances . The nest consists of several thousand workers, the nest is established claustrally . The queens are monogynous and polygynous . The swarming period extends from late June to late July.
Formica clara is primarily zoophagous and feeds on other insects and arachnids .
Formica clara is a very aggressive species, some of whose workers are larger than those of the two sister species Formica rufibarbis and Formica cunicularia . Large colonies are largely immune to attacks by socially parasitic ants.
This species hibernates from October to March.
Systematics
The Formica lusatica described by Seifert in 1997 as a new one has now been synonymous with Formica clara . Some authors also refer to Formica clara as Formica glauca . This species is not well known. The distinction from Formica rufibarbis is hardly possible for the layman.
Danger
Formica clara is on the red list in several countries and its population is endangered.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Ant forum
- ↑ Bernhard Seifert, Roland Schultz: A taxonomic revision of the Formica rufibarbis FABRICIUS, 1793 group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News, 12 pp. 255-272 (2009)
Web links
- Formica lusatica in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved on June 23, 2011, mentioned here as Formica (Serviformica) lusatica Seifert, 1997