Formica subintegra

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Formica subintegra
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Formicini
Genus: Formica
Species: F. subintegra
Binomial name
Formica subintegra
Wheeler, W.M., 1908

Formica subintegra casent0104771 profile 1.jpg

Formica subintegra casent0104771 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Formica subintegra is an obligate slave-maker of species within the Formica fusca group. They are not active outside the nest except during slave-raids and foraging is undertaken entirely by their slaves, which make up 70-90% of the colony (Apple, Lewandowski & Levine, 2014).

At a Glance • Dulotic  

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 56.35° to 33.272°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

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

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

The general biology and raiding behavior of Formica subintegra have been studied by Wheeler (1910a) and by Talbot and Kennedy (1940). The latter investigators, by keeping a chronicle over many summers of a population on Gibraltar Island, in Lake Erie, were able to show that raiding is much more frequent in subintegra than in Formica sanguinea. Some colonies raided almost daily for weeks at a time, striking out in any one of several directions on a given day. Occasionally the forays continued on into the night, in which case the subintegra workers remained in the looted nest overnight and returned home the next morning. In other details the raiding behavior resembled that of sanguinea. Subsequently, Regnier and Wilson (1971) discovered that each subintegra worker possesses a grotesquely hypertrophied Dufour's gland, which contains approximately 700 µg of a mixture of decyl, dodecyl, and tetradecyl acetates. These substances are sprayed at the defending colonies during the slave raids. They act at least in part as “propaganda substances” because they evaporate slowly and help to alarm and to disperse the defending workers.

Savolainen & Deslippe (2001): The obligate slave-making ant Formica subintegra is not activate outside its nest until July and August, when slave raids begin. A comparative behavioral study of seasonal and daily activities, retrieval of prey, and nest maintenance of this species, the obligate slavemaker Polyergus mexicanus (as Polyergus breviceps), and the facultative Formica aserva (as Formica subnuda), shows that the behavioral repertory of F. subintegra closely resembles that of P. mexicanus and clearly differs from the repertory of F. aserva. Unlike P. mexicanus, F. subintegra has retained some nest-building activity which, owing to the lack of competence, does not contribute to nest maintenance. We suggested earlier that F. subintegra is probably an obligate slavemaker, because it always has a large proportion of slaves within its nest, whereas F. aserva fares well even without slaves. This, coupled with no foraging in early summer and a raiding period later on, strongly suggests that F. subintegra is an obligate slave-making ant.

Association with Other Organisms

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  • Hosts for this slave-maker include Formica glacialis (Apple et al., 2014; de la Mora et al., 2021), Formica pallidefulva (Mackay & Mackay, 2002) and Formica podzolica (Savolainen & Deslippe, 2001; de la Mora et al., 2021).
  • This species is a mutualist for the aphid Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae (a trophobiont) (Jones, 1927; Saddiqui et al., 2019).
  • This species is a host for the braconid wasp Elasmosoma petulans (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

Fungi

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

Castes

Formica-subintegra-H3.2.jpgFormica-subintegra-L1.6 2.jpgFormica-subintegra-D2.jpgFormica-subintegra-Label.jpg
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Nomenclature

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

  • subintegra. Formica sanguinea subsp. subintegra Wheeler, W.M. 1908f: 627 (w.q.) U.S.A. [First available use of Formica sanguinea subsp. rubicunda var. subintegra Emery, 1893i: 648, pl. 22, fig. 3; unavailable name.] Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 411 (m.); Hung, 1969: 456 (k.). Combination in F. (Raptiformica): Emery, 1925b: 260. Subspecies of sanguinea: Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 410. Raised to species and material of the unavailable name gilvescens referred here: Creighton, 1950a: 470. See also: Talbot & Kennedy, 1940: 560.

Description

Karyotype

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  • n = 26 (USA) (Hung, 1969).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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  • Allred, D.M. 1982. The ants of Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 42:415-511.
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  • Glasier J. R. N., S. Nielsen, J. H. Acorn, L. H. Borysenko, and T. Radtke. 2016. A checklist of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Saskatchewan. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 130(1): 40-48.
  • Glasier, J. Alberta Ants. AntWeb.
  • Guénard B., K. A. Mccaffrey, A. Lucky, and R. R. Dunn. 2012. Ants of North Carolina: an updated list (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3552: 1-36.
  • Headley A. E. 1943. The ants of Ashtabula County, Ohio (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). The Ohio Journal of Science 43(1): 22-31.
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  • Ipser, R.M., M.A. Brinkman, W.A. Gardner and H.B. Peeler. 2004. A Survey of Ground-Dwelling Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Georgia. The Florida Entomologist 87(3) 253-260.
  • Ivanov, K. 2019. The ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): an updated checklist. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 70: 65–87.
  • Ivanov K., L. Hightower, S. T. Dash, and J. B. Keiper. 2019. 150 years in the making: first comprehensive list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Virginia, USA. Zootaxa 4554 (2): 532–560.
  • Kannowski P. B. 1956. The ants of Ramsey County, North Dakota. American Midland Naturalist 56(1): 168-185.
  • Lubertazi, D. Personal Communication. Specimen Data from Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard
  • Lynch J. F. 1988. An annotated checklist and key to the species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Chesapeake Bay region. The Maryland Naturalist 31: 61-106
  • MacGown, J.A and J.A. Forster. 2005. A preliminary list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Alabama, U.S.A. Entomological News 116(2):61-74
  • MacGown, J.A. and JV.G. Hill. Ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina).
  • MacGown. J. 2011. Ants collected during the 25th Annual Cross Expedition at Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, Tennessee
  • Menke S. B., E. Gaulke, A. Hamel, and N. Vachter. 2015. The effects of restoration age and prescribed burns on grassland ant community structure. Environmental Entomology http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvv110
  • Munsee, J. R.; Jansma, W. B.; Schrock, J. R. 1986. Revision of the checklist of Indiana ants with the addition of five new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 1985, publ. 1986 Vol. 95 pp. 265-274
  • Nuhn, T.P. and C.G. Wright. 1979. An Ecological Survey of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Landscaped Suburban Habitat. American Midland Naturalist 102(2):353-362
  • Sharplin, J. 1966. An annotated list of the Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Central and Southern Alberta. Quaetiones Entomoligcae 2:243-253
  • Smith F. 1941. A list of the ants of Washington State. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 17(1): 23-28.
  • Smith M. R. 1929. Observations and remarks on the slave-making raids of three species of ants found at Urbana, Illinois. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 36: 323-333.
  • Sturtevant A. H. 1931. Ants collected on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Psyche (Cambridge) 38: 73-79
  • Talbot M. 1934. Distribution of ant species in the Chicago region with reference to ecological factors and physiological toleration. Ecology 15(4): 416-439.
  • Talbot M. 1976. A list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Edwin S. George Reserve, Livingston County, Michigan. Great Lakes Entomologist 8: 245-246.
  • Talbot M., and C. H. Kennedy, C. H. 1940. The slave-making ant, Formica sanguinea subintegra Emery, its raids, nuptual flights and nest structure. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 33: 560-577.
  • Wheeler G. C., J. N. Wheeler, and P. B. Kannowski. 1994. Checklist of the ants of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The Great Lakes Entomologist 26(4): 297-310
  • Wheeler W. M. 1901. The compound and mixed nests of American ants. Part II (continued). American Naturalist. 35: 701-724.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1906. Fauna of New England. 7. List of the Formicidae. Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History 7: 1-24
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  • Wheeler W. M. 1906. On the founding of colonies by queen ants, with special reference to the parasitic and slave-making species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 22: 33-105.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1908. The ants of Casco Bay, Maine, with observations on two races of Formica sanguinea Latreille. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 24: 619-645.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1913. A revision of the ants of the genus Formica (Linné) Mayr. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 53: 379-565.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1916. Formicoidea. Formicidae. Pp. 577-601 in: Viereck, H. L. 1916. Guide to the insects of Connecticut. Part III. The Hymenoptera, or wasp-like insects, of Connecticut. Connecticut State Geological and Natural History Survey. Bulletin 22: 1-824.
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