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Photo#379350
Organic-Mound Building Ants (Formica sp)? - Formica obscuripes

Organic-Mound Building Ants (Formica sp)? - Formica obscuripes
near Mehama, Polk County, Oregon, USA
May 10, 2009
In the thick Coniferous forest, the ants were condensed on the spot of the mound where the sun shined on.

Moved
Though we can't see the diagnostic array of bristles that characterize this species, the color pattern is distinctive for this species, and the behavior classic.

Moved
Moved from rufa group.

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Formica sp. (rufa group) - workers
F. obscuripes or else a very close relative. Maybe Dr Trager will know. Such sunning behavior is the rule among these thatching ants after overwintering. Those dark condensed clusters allow a quicker accumulation of heat upon all these small bodies. Once the workers "feel" warm enough, they go down inside the still cold depth of the nest. This in turn helps the reminder of the colony to "wake up".

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