Western Thatching Ant
Formica obscuripes, commonly known as the 'western thatching ant' is found throughout the central and western US, and western Canada. F. obscuripes habitat includes semi-arid sagebrush scrub lands, prairies, and various forest ecosystems.
These ants are most notable because of their large size, sometimes very large, organic nest-mounds, and huge colony populations in the tens, or hundreds of thousands. The worker caste occurs in many different stages, so large and small individuals (majors and minors) can be seen foraging, and performing other tasks.
Their large mounds can reach over 3 ½ feet in height, with tunnels and galleries extending several feet into the soil below the mound. Collection of solar radiation by the mounds helps keep the ants warm during cooler periods. The large mass of organic material may also help to generally moderate temperatures and humidity levels within the nest's interior. Workers are constantly adding bits of twigs, cut grass stems, conifer needles, and other material to the mound. Damage caused by high winds, rain, or even predators, is repaired by hordes of workers. Nests of Formica rufa, a closely-related European species, have been observed to be active for as long as forty years.
Pileated Woodpeckers and Flickers can be seen “tearing into” the large mounds seemingly destroying them, but the ants and their mounds persist.
They feed by scavenging or preying upon insects and other arthropods mostly on the ground and in shrubs, and by harvesting honeydew from aphids. But F. obscuripes workers also forage high in the foliage of trees, and are important predators of western spruce budworm, and other forest 'pests'.
Reference: http://www.davidlouisquinn.com/pogolumina_OA_FobscuripesInfo.htm
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda (Insects, Springtails, Millipedes - Mandibulata)
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus: Formica
Species: F. obscuripes
Read MoreThese ants are most notable because of their large size, sometimes very large, organic nest-mounds, and huge colony populations in the tens, or hundreds of thousands. The worker caste occurs in many different stages, so large and small individuals (majors and minors) can be seen foraging, and performing other tasks.
Their large mounds can reach over 3 ½ feet in height, with tunnels and galleries extending several feet into the soil below the mound. Collection of solar radiation by the mounds helps keep the ants warm during cooler periods. The large mass of organic material may also help to generally moderate temperatures and humidity levels within the nest's interior. Workers are constantly adding bits of twigs, cut grass stems, conifer needles, and other material to the mound. Damage caused by high winds, rain, or even predators, is repaired by hordes of workers. Nests of Formica rufa, a closely-related European species, have been observed to be active for as long as forty years.
Pileated Woodpeckers and Flickers can be seen “tearing into” the large mounds seemingly destroying them, but the ants and their mounds persist.
They feed by scavenging or preying upon insects and other arthropods mostly on the ground and in shrubs, and by harvesting honeydew from aphids. But F. obscuripes workers also forage high in the foliage of trees, and are important predators of western spruce budworm, and other forest 'pests'.
Reference: http://www.davidlouisquinn.com/pogolumina_OA_FobscuripesInfo.htm
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda (Insects, Springtails, Millipedes - Mandibulata)
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus: Formica
Species: F. obscuripes
