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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) » fusca group (Formica fusca group) » Formica gnava

Species Formica gnava

Classification · Pronunciation · Explanation of Names · Size · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks
Diligent ants. - Formica gnava Ant/aphid association #2 - Formica gnava Formica - Formica gnava Reproductive ant - Formica gnava Reproductive ant - Formica gnava Ant - Formica gnava ant - Formica gnava Formica gnava
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Formicoidea (Ants)
Family Formicidae (Ants)
Subfamily Formicinae
Tribe Formicini
Genus Formica (Wood ants, mound ants, & field ants)
No Taxon (fusca group)
Species gnava (Formica gnava)
Pronunciation
forMYca NAYva or forMEEca GNAHva
Explanation of Names
Gnava is Latin for diligent or busy.
Size
workers, 4.5-6 mm
queens, males 8-9 mm
Range
Texas to Arizona, south (and probably higher in elevation) into mountains in Mexico.
Habitat
Upper Sonoran vegetation, especially riparian woodland facies, 1450-1650m - mesquite riparian woodland at lower elevation, riparian oak woodland, oak-pine-juniper and oak-madrone woodland, conifer woodlands higher.
Season
Workers forage in the morning and mid-afternoon to dusk on warm days, spring to fall. Mating flights are in July.
Food
An active predator of various arthropods, also gathers honeydew and nectar.
Life Cycle
Colony foundation is independent, usually by single queens, after early monsoon season mating flights.
Remarks
This is an aggressive species for the fusca group, which releases copious amounts of noisomely detectable formic acid and other chemicals when the nest is disturbed. Nonetheless, it is host to a Mexican and Arizonan Polyergus species, P. topoffi
Contributed by Jeff Gruber on 30 November, 2009 - 11:54am
Additional contributions by James C. Trager, metrioptera
Last updated 7 June, 2018 - 8:51am

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