Formica criniventris

These ants usually nest under stones and build thatched nests around the stone. It may enslave Formica argentea or Formica neoclara.

Identification
This is an attractive, bicolored ant (head and mesosoma red, gaster black), in which the mid and hind tibiae normally have only 1 or 2 erect or suberect hairs, located near the apices of the tibiae. The scapes are without erect hairs (except at the apex). The clypeal fossa is shallow and the surface of the clypeus is broadly convex. The suberect hairs on the gaster are widely scattered and sparse. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Distribution
United States: Montana and North Dakota, south Colorado and New Mexico.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States.

Habitat
Forested areas, open meadows.

Nomenclature

 * crinita. Formica crinita Wheeler, W.M. 1909e: 87 (w.q.) U.S.A. [Junior primary homonym of crinita Smith, F. 1858b: 13, above.] Replacement name: criniventris Wheeler, W.M. 1912c: 90. [Formica crinita Wheeler, W.M. 1908g: 408. Nomen nudum.]
 *  criniventris. Formica criniventris Wheeler, W.M. 1912c: 90. Replacement name for crinita Wheeler, W.M., above. [Junior primary homonym of crinita Smith, F. 1858b: 13.]

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Allred D. M. 1982. Ants of Utah. The Great Basin Naturalist 42: 415-511.
 * Allred, D.M. 1982. The ants of Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 42:415-511.
 * Beck D. E., D. M. Allred, W. J. Despain. 1967. Predaceous-scavenger ants in Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 27: 67-78
 * Borchert, H.F. and N.L. Anderson. 1973. The Ants of the Bearpaw Mountains of Montana (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 46(2):200-224
 * Gregg, R.T. 1963. The Ants of Colorado.
 * Lavigne R., and T. J. Tepedino. 1976. Checklist of the insects in Wyoming. I. Hymenoptera. Agric. Exp. Sta., Univ. Wyoming Res. J. 106: 24-26.
 * Mackay W. P. and Mackay, E. E. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 400 pp.
 * Shattuck S. O. 1985. Illustrated key to ants associated with western spruce budworm. United States Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Handbook 632: 1-36.
 * Trager J. Distributions of Nearctic Formica rufa group species. Personal communication 05 February 2014.
 * Wheeler G. C., and E. W. Wheeler. 1944. Ants of North Dakota. North Dakota Historical Quarterly 11:231-271.
 * Wheeler G. C., and J. Wheeler. 1987. A Checklist of the Ants of South Dakota. Prairie Nat. 19(3): 199-208.
 * 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, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1988. A checklist of the ants of Montana. Psyche 95:101-114
 * Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1988. A checklist of the ants of Wyoming. Insecta Mundi 2(3&4):230-239
 * Yensen, N.P., W.H. Clark and A. Francoeur. 1977. A checklist of Idaho Ants. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 53:181-187