Ants with nymph of some kind - Formica obscuriventris - BugGuide.Net

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Ants (Formicoidea) » Ants (Formicidae) » Formicinae » Formicini » Wood ants, mound ants, & field ants (Formica) » rufa group (Formica rufa group) » Formica obscuriventris

Photo#214886

Copyright © 2008 Elizabeth Nicodemus

Ants with nymph of some kind - Formica obscuriventris

Pikes Peak, Brown County, Indiana, USA
August 16, 2008

On Ragweed. Also wondering if the ants are eating or tending the larvae. None of the photos I took actually showed an ant eating one.

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Contributed by Elizabeth Nicodemus on 17 August, 2008 - 9:32am
Last updated 8 October, 2010 - 3:16pm

Moved

Moved from Ants.

… James C. Trager, 8 October, 2010 - 3:16pm

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Formicinae: Formica

Nice picture! The are Formica obscuriventris, recognizable by nearly erect bristles on all surfaces of the hind tibiae, and by the boxy clypeal shape. The latter is not very visible, but surmised from reflection patterns on some of the individuals.

The other species with similar tibial bristliness are F. knighti (rare, smaller, slenderer, browner) and F. obscuripes, which most likely does not occur in Indiana (no specimen records) and is stockier and has a different color pattern, grading from a bright red head through a darkening midsection to a nearly black gaster.

… James C. Trager, 26 March, 2010 - 3:28pm

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"larvae."

The "larvae" are nymphs of some kind of treehopper, family Membracidae.

… Eric R. Eaton, 17 August, 2008 - 8:33pm

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Hi, thanks for the clarification

3 days later and the nymphs and the ants are still at it. See photo

… Elizabeth Nicodemus, 19 August, 2008 - 7:29pm

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This picture shows the clypea

Indeed, these ants will stay with a productive (lots of honeydew) membracid colony for weeks, or move with them to new leaves as the old ones give out.
Your flicker picture shows the clypeal cross section well -- Moving to obscuriventris page...

… James C. Trager, 8 October, 2010 - 3:14pm

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