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BugGuide Gathering
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University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Ants (Formicidae) » Formicinae » Formica
Photo#177572
Ant - Formica
Copyright © 2008 Tom Bentley

Ant - Formica
Seneca Creek State Park, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
April 10, 2008
These guys were found in huge colonies.
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Contributed by Tom Bentley on 17 April, 2008 - 7:57pm
Last updated 18 April, 2008 - 9:16am

Moved
Moved from Ants.
… Tom Bentley, 18 April, 2008 - 9:16am login or register to post comments

Mound Ant (Formica sp.) - worker
Either the famous Alleghany Mound Ant (Formica exsectoides) or a member of the rufa-group. I would lean for the former, but without being conclusive.
… Richard Vernier, 18 April, 2008 - 9:06am login or register to post comments

 
This were is huge mounds many
This were is huge mounds many feet across. Does the mound size help at all?
… Tom Bentley, 18 April, 2008 - 9:14am login or register to post comments

 
Unfortunately no
What would help more is the shape of the mound(s) (rather high and conical or else broad and rounded to almost flat), and the nature of the plant material used for "thatching" (mainly pine needles or else dry grasses).
If there are several of them, distance between them and the way they are organized is indicative too. More than most species of the rufa-group, F. exsectoides tends to make quite dense "networks" of many close-neighboring mounds (a so-called polydomous species).
… Richard Vernier, 18 April, 2008 - 5:21pm login or register to post comments

 
I can tell you the plant mate
I can tell you the plant material was all pine needles. There were about 10-15 mounds all located along the edge of a pine forest and grassland. They were spread about 25 feet apart.
… Tom Bentley, 19 April, 2008 - 2:30pm login or register to post comments

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