Formica gerardi

This ant has been associated with the butterflies  Laeosopis roboris and  Favonius quercus (Obregon et al. 2015).

Identification
Collingwood and Yarrow (1969) - This species is described by Bondroit (1917) as brown-black, very matt with short grey pubescence; anterior of head, sutures, antennae and legs lighter and with sparse hairs on head, gaster and pronotum. It is in effect like a dark Formica rufibarbis. The dorsal thoracic hairs in these examples are less concentrated on the pronotum than in F. rufibarbis, more scattered over the whole thorax, finer and fewer in number. The main structural difference between the two species is in the shape of the epinotum which is relatively lower and less massive in F. gerardi, having the ratio of length of dorsal surface to height as 8: 10 instead of about 7: 10.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Andorra, France, Gibraltar, Iberian Peninsula, Portugal, Spain.

Nomenclature

 *  gerardi. Formica gerardi Bondroit, 1917b: 186 (w.) FRANCE. Lorite, Chica & Palomeque, 1998: 26 (k.). Combination in F. (Iberoformica): Czechowski, Radchenko, et al. 2012: 39. Provisional junior synonym of subrufa: Bernard, 1967: 301. Revived status as species: Collingwood & Yarrow, 1969: 89; Collingwood, 1978: 73.