Formica laeviceps

This ant nests under stones, and occurs in areas with sandy soils and interspersed stones. Foragers were collected on Yucca sp. stalks, tending aphids, on a sunny, east-facing slope.

Identification
Workers lacking erect hairs on the scape (except at apex) and with few erect hairs on the mid and hind tibiae, except for a double row of bristles, each with up to 10 hairs, which extend the entire length of the tibia. The tentorial pits are very deep and pit-like, making the middle part of the clypeus rise up as a rectangle. The species name suggests that the head is smooth, but it is predominantly rough and only slightly smoother than the average member of the rufa group. (Mackay and Mackay 2002)

Distribution
Western Unites States.

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



Habitat
Mackay and Mackay (2002) - Semiarid sites, grasslands, pinyon-juniper forests, up into mixed conifer habitats (Fagerlund, pers. comm.).

Biology
Nevada, Wheeler and Wheeler (1986) - We have 8 records from 7 localities; 4,200-7,100 ft. One was in the Coniferous Forest Biome and 1 in the Cool Desert. Only 1 nest was described: in an asymmetrical thatch mound 86 x 107 cm in diameter and 56 cm in height. Workers from a Battle Mt. nest were tending Zyxaphis lililolia Gill. & Palmer (Homoptera: Aphididae; det. D. Hille Ris Lambers) on Artemisia tridentata.

Nest site selected in areas of moderate to sparse cover. Nest begun under log or stone with many of the passages running into the soil. Moderate use made of thatching, often little of this visible on the outside of the nest. Large domes or heaps of thatching rarely produced (Creighton, 1940).

Nomenclature

 *  laeviceps. Formica rufa subsp. laeviceps Creighton, 1940a: 9, fig. 1 (w.q.) U.S.A. Raised to species: Creighton, 1950a: 491.