Red-bearded slave ant
| Red-bearded slave ant | ||||||||||
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Red-bearded slave ant worker ( Formica rufibarbis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Formica rufibarbis | ||||||||||
| Fabricius , 1793 |
The red-bearded slave ant ( Formica rufibarbis ) from the subfamily of the scale ants (Formicinae) belongs to the genus of forest ants ( Formica ) and there to the subgenus of slave ants ( Serviformica ).
features
The workers are 4 to 7.5 millimeters tall, the queens 9 to 11 millimeters and the males 9 to 10 millimeters. The guests and the head are matt black to brownish, the thorax is reddish with varying degrees of red coloring. The color can vary from reddish black to bright red. This species can easily be confused with Formica cunicularia , Formica clara and Formica pratensis .
The related gray-black slave ant ( Formica fusca ) is completely black in color, the blood-red predatory ant ( Formica sanguinea ) has a reddish head. Both are therefore easy to distinguish from the red-bearded slave ant. The red wood ant ( Formica rufa ) and the bald-backed wood ant ( Formica polyctena ) inhabit a different habitat.
distribution
The red-bearded slave ant occurs in Europe from Iberia to Western Siberia . This species can be found in the Alps up to an altitude of 2000 meters. This species is widespread throughout Germany from planar to submontane .
habitat
Formica rufibarbis prefers short-grass, thermophilic grassland habitats, mostly with sandy or sandy soil. It is therefore at home on dry grass, also at roadsides and can also be found in gardens. The red-bearded slave ant is overall somewhat more heat-loving than the very similar species Formica cunicularia and, in contrast to this, also penetrates further into urban habitats.
behavior
This ant is very aggressive, especially when attacking the nest, and defends itself better against social parasites than Formica cunicularia . However, it is an auxiliary ant for other species, such as B. the blood-red predatory ant ( Formica sanguinea ). In addition, Formica rufibarbis can climb well and also climb vertical glass walls. The sex animals swarm between late June and early August.
nutrition
Formica rufibarbis feeds mostly on zoophag, i.e. on insects and arachnids, and to a small extent also on the honeydew of the root and aphids.
Nest building
The nests of this ant are underground and mostly simple earth nests without nest mounds. However, there are small piles of sand or earth around the numerous nest entrances . Colonies basically only consist of a single nest. The nest is founded claustrally by a single queen, but also in pleometrosis . With 1000 to 3000 workers, the colonies are somewhat more populous than the colonies of Formica cunicularia and are more polygynous .
Systematics
Formica rufibarbis forms together with Formica cunicularia , Formica clara and five other species the Formica rufibarbis group within the slave ants.
Synonyms
The following names are younger synonyms for Formica rufibarbis :
- Formica fusca var. Cinereorufibarbis
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Bernhard Seifert : The ants of Central and Northern Europe . lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Görlitz / Tauer 2007, ISBN 978-3-936412-03-1
- ↑ a b Seifert, B. and R. Schultz. 2009. A taxonomic revision of the Formica rufibarbis Fabricius, 1793 group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 255-272.