Formica argentea

Formica argentea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Formica
Species:	F. argentea
Binomial name
	Formica argentea; Wheeler, W.M., 1912 Specimen labels
Synonyms
	Formica fusca argentata Wheeler, W.M., 1902; Formica fusca blanda Wheeler, W.M., 1913;

At a Glance

• Polygynous

Identification

The metasternal process of this species is poorly developed, but is often surrounded by abundant hair (exceptions common). The ventral surface of the head is without erect hairs. This species has a silvery sheen on the gaster, due to the abundance of pubescence, the remainder of the ant is usually brownish or even reddish or yellowish brown, with the gaster slightly darker, but may be concolorous black. Sometimes it is weakly bicolored. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Most of North America and into Mexcio (Chihuahua).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 54.46888889° to 20.98444°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: Canada, United States (type locality).
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Biology

For New Mexico (Mackay and Mackay 2002): Nests are found under stones or logs, or under bark of pines. Brood was found in nests in July and August, sexuals in August. Multiple dealate females occur in nests (at least 3). Nests may have a small amount of thatching mixed with soil. They are generally relatively docile, and rapidly escape when the nest is disturbed. Flights occur in early July (sexuals are attracted to lights); a dealate female was collected in July. This species nests together with Lasius murphyi, as well as with Solenopsis molesta, Monomorium minimum, Lasius sitiens, Lasius pallitarsis, and Camponotus modoc.

Nevada, Wheeler and Wheeler (1986) - This species is very adaptable and is distributed throughout the state. We have 109 records representing 100 localities. Twenty-three records are from the Cool Desert (l from Sarcobatus Subclimax, 1 from a cottonwood grove, 1 from riparian cottonwood grove, 2 from disturbed cottonwood groves, and 1 from a disturbed habitat), 26 are from the Pinyon-Juniper Biome, 30 from the Coniferous Forest Biome, 7 from the ecotone, and 4 from the Alpine Biome. Formica argentea is definitely a montane ant. While the elevational range is 4,400-11,500 ft., 95% of the records are above 6,000 ft. Most (43) nests were under stones, 5 were under wood lying on the ground, 13 were exposed (5 of these under earthen mounds and 8 with excavated soil in craters around the entrance). In a nest of this species we found Hetaerius tristriatus Horn (Coleoptera: Histeridae; det. J.M. Kingsolver), nr summit Sugarloaf Mt. 3 mi. SSE Montgomery Pass, Mineral Co., 9,000 ft. F. argentea was tending Aphis sp. nr penstemonicola G. &F. (Homoptera: Aphididae; det. M.B. Stoetzel), on squaw currant (Ribes cereum), Lehman Caves Nat. Mon., White Pine Co., 6,800 ft.v

This species is known to be enslaved by Formica aserva, Formica densiventris, Formica gynocrates, Formica rubicunda and Polyergus mexicanus. It is also the host for the temporary parasite Formica microgyna.

Association with Other Organisms

Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

This species is associated with the aphids Anuraphis subterranea, Aphis aiddletonii, Aphis asclepiadis, Aphis gossypii, Aphis lugentis, Aphis medicaginis, Aphis sambucifolii, Aphis ulmariae, Bipersona torticauda, Braggia eriogoni, Chaitophorus nigrae, Chaitophorus populicola, Chaitophorus populifolii, Chaitophorus viminalis, Cinara apini, Cinara ponderosae, Cryptomyzus ribis, Drepanaphis acerifoliae, Hyperomyzus lactucae, Lachnus glaber, Macrosiphum euphorbiae, Myzaphis rosarum, Myzocallis discolor, Myzus persicae, Periphyllus negundinis, Prociphilus fraxinifolii, Pterocomma smithiae, Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae, Uroleucon ambrosiae, Uroleucon erigeronense, Uroleucon solidaginis and Uroleucon taraxaci (Saddiqui et al., 2019 and included references).

This species is a prey for the Microdon fly Microdon lanceolatus (a predator) (Quevillon, 2018).
This species is a host for the fungus Laboulbenia formicarum (a pathogen) (Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).
This species is a host for the fungus Laboulbenia formicarum (a parasite) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission within nest).

Flight Period

						X	X
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: Mackay & Mackay, 2002.

Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.

Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Life History Traits

Queen number: monogynous (Bennett, 1987; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)

Castes

Worker


.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb


Worker. Specimen code casent0102159. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

argentata. Formica fusca var. argentata Wheeler, W.M. 1902e: 952 (footnote) (w.) U.S.A. [Junior primary homonym of argentata Fabricius, above.] Replacement name: argentea Wheeler, W.M. 1912c: 90.
argentea. Formica fusca var. argentea Wheeler, W.M. 1912c: 90. Replacement name for argentata Wheeler, W.M., above. [Junior primary homonym of argentata Fabricius, 1804: 413.] Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 502 (q.m.). Combination in F. (Serviformica): Emery, 1925b: 248. Subspecies of fusca: Buren, 1944a: 301. Junior synonym of fusca: Creighton, 1950a: 532. Revived from synonymy, raised to species and senior synonym of blanda: Francoeur, 1973: 141.
blanda. Formica fusca var. blanda Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 398 (in key) (w.) U.S.A. [Unresolved junior primary homonym of blanda Smith, F. 1858b: 43, above.] Subspecies of fusca: Wheeler, W.M. 1917a: 548. Junior synonym of argentea: Francoeur, 1973: 141.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Francoeur 1973. Figures 233-248.

References

Alatorre-Bracamontes, C.E., Vásquez-Bolaños, M. 2010. Lista comentada de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del norte de México. Dugesiana 17(1): 9-36.
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Buren, W. F. 1944a. A list of Iowa ants. Iowa State Coll. J. Sci. 18: 277-312 (page 301, Subspecies of fusca)
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Creighton, W. S. 1950a. The ants of North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 104: 1-585 (page 532, Junior synonym of fusca)
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de la Mora, A., Sankovitz, M., Purcell, J. 2020. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as host and intruder: recent advances and future directions in the study of exploitative strategies. Myrmecological News 30: 53-71 (doi:10.25849/MYRMECOL.NEWS_030:053).
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Espadaler, X., Santamaria, S. 2012. Ecto- and Endoparasitic Fungi on Ants from the Holarctic Region. Psyche Article ID 168478, 10 pages (doi:10.1155/2012/168478).
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Francoeur, A. 1973. Révision taxonomique des espèces néarctiques du groupe fusca, genre Formica (Formicidae, Hymenoptera). Mém. Soc. Entomol. Qué. 3: 1-316 (page 141, Revived from synonymy, raised to species, and senior synonym of blanda)
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Waters, J.S., Keough, N.W., Burt, J., Eckel, J.D., Hutchinson, T., Ewanchuk, J., Rock, M., Markert, J.A., Axen, H.J., Gregg, D. 2022. Survey of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the city of Providence (Rhode Island, United States) and a new northern-most record for Brachyponera chinensis (Emery, 1895). Check List 18(6), 1347–1368 (doi:10.15560/18.6.1347).
Wheeler, G. C. and J. Wheeler. 1986. The ants of Nevada. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles.
Wheeler, W. M. 1912c. New names for some ants of the genus Formica. Psyche (Camb.) 19: 90 (page 90, Replacement name for argentata Wheeler)
Wheeler, W. M. 1913i. A revision of the ants of the genus Formica (Linné) Mayr. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 53: 379-565 (page 502, queen, male described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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