Manica hunteri

Typical habitat for this species is an opening in a coniferous forest. The elevation range is 2,300 feet (Alberta) to 9,000 feet at Angel Lake, Nevada.

Identification Keys including this Taxon
Key to Manica of North America

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

Biology
Reproduction:

In British Columbia, nuptial flights occur from mid-August to mid-September. Colonies are presumably founded monogynously, and dealate queens are semi-claustral, (meaning they need to forage for food throughout the founding stages). Dealate queens often overwinter before beginning the egg laying process.

Foraging/Diet:

According to Miles Maxcer from Montana State University, this species interest in food sources changes rapidly. Workers forage alone.

Nomenclature

 * aldrichi. Myrmica (Oreomyrma) aldrichi Wheeler, W.M. 1914d: 120, fig. 1 (w.) U.S.A. Combination in Myrmica (Neomyrma): Wheeler, W.M. 1917a: 507; in M. (Manica): Emery, 1921f: 42; in Manica: Weber, 1947: 440; Creighton, 1950a: 108. Junior synonym of hunteri: Cole, 1956g: 262.
 *  hunteri. Myrmica (Oreomyrma) hunteri Wheeler, W.M. 1914d: 121, fig. 1 (w.) U.S.A. Cole, 1957c: 212 (m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1972b: 235 (l.). Combination in Myrmica (Neomyrma): Wheeler, W.M. 1917a: 507; in M. (Manica): Emery, 1921f: 43; in Manica: Weber, 1947: 440; Creighton, 1950a: 109. Senior synonym of aldrichi: Cole, 1956g: 262.

(Cole selected hunteri as the senior name for this species using the Principle of the First Reviser.)

Description
Worker: Length 4-6 mm.

Body and appendages brownish red or ferruginous, with a large, black, subtriangular spot on the vertex and a band of the same color across the posterior portion of the first gastric segment. Frontal area, posterior clypeal suture, antennal clubs and dental border of mandibles more or less infuscated. Upper surface of head with coarse, scattered punctures in addition to the rugae. Smooth areas on the head, thorax and pedicel. Hairs pale yellow. Anterior clypeal border entire. Base of propodeum somewhat flattened, anteroventral protuberance of postpetiole broadly rounded.

Described from a dozen specimens taken by Dr. S.J. Hunter from a couple of nests on the slopes of two mountains on the Madison River, nearly opposite the mouth of Beaver Creek, Montana, at an altitude of about 7,500 feet. The nests were in shaley earth and apparently of the crater type.
 * Type

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.
 * 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
 * Christiansen T., and R. Lavigne. 2010. Effects of the 1988 Fires in Yellowstone National Park, USA, on the Ant Populations (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Entomol. Res. Soc. 12(3): 29-37.
 * Cole A. C., Jr. 1957. Descriptions of sexual castes of some ants in the genera Myrmica, Manica and Xiphomyrmex from the western United States (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 32: 208-213.
 * Cole, A.C. 1936. An annotated list of the ants of Idaho (Hymenoptera; Formicidae). Canadian Entomologist 68(2):34-39
 * Glasier, J. Alberta Ants. AntWeb.
 * Hoey-Chamberlain R. V., L. D. Hansen, J. H. Klotz and C. McNeeley. 2010. A survey of the ants of Washington and Surrounding areas in Idaho and Oregon focusing on disturbed sites (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology. 56: 195-207
 * Longino, J.T. 2010. Personal Communication. Longino Collection Database
 * Michigan State University, The Albert J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection. Accessed on January 7th 2014 at http://www.arc.ent.msu.edu:8080/collection/index.jsp
 * Parson G. L., G Cassis, A. R. Moldenke, J. D. Lattin, N. H. Anderson, J. C. Miller, P. Hammond, T. Schowalter. 1991. Invertebrates of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, western Cascade Range, Oregon. V: An annotated list of insects and other arthropods. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-290. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 168 p.
 * Sharplin, J. 1966. An annotated list of the Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Central and Southern Alberta. Quaetiones Entomoligcae 2:243-253
 * Wheeler G. C., and J. Wheeler. 1986. The ants of Nevada. Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, vii + 138 pp.
 * Wheeler J. N., G. C. Wheeler, R. J. Lavigne, T. A. Christiansen, and D. E. Wheeler. 2014. The ants of Yellowstone National Park. Lexington, Ky. : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. 112 pages.
 * Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1970. The natural history of Manica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Kansas Entomological Society 43(2):129-162
 * Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1978. Mountain ants of Nevada. Great Basin Naturalist 35(4):379-396
 * 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