Formica truncorum

Identification
Large workers with head, alitrunk and base of first gaster tergite bright yellowish red, gaster greyish brown covered with long pubescence; smaller workers are usually darker but never with clearly marked black patches as in Formica pratensis. Eyes, occiput, genae, gula, scapes and tibiae as well as whole body covered in short erect hairs. Frons with large shallow punctures; frontal triangle shining without punctures or sculpture. Funiculus in larger workers slender with segments two and three twice as long as wide. Lateral clypeal pits deep and rounded. Length: 3.5-9.0 mm (Collingwood 1979).

Distribution
Jura Alps to North Japan, Italy to North Norway (Collingwood 1979).

This taxon was described from Czechoslovakia.

Biology
Collingwood (1979) - This species has large spreading colonies among stones or in tree stumps with loose surface leaf litter sometimes built into a shallow loose mound. This is an aggressive acid squirting species found at the borders of woodland and in stony banks and often particularly abundant on offshore islands. F. truncorum is normally polygynous, sometimes with many small dark headed queens. New colonies may be formed by nest splitting or by the adoption of single large red headed queens by Formica fusca and allied species. Males and queens occur in July and August, latter than with most members of the F. rufa group.

Nomenclature

 *  truncorum. Formica truncorum Fabricius, 1804: 403 (q.) CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Subspecies of rufa: Emery & Forel, 1879: 450; Santschi, 1925g: 351; Karavaiev, 1936: 247. Status as species: Bondroit, 1917a: 174; Stitz, 1939: 344; Novak & Sadil, 1941: 105; Holgersen, 1942: 13; Dlussky, 1967a: 81; Tarbinsky, 1976: 192; Kutter, 1977c: 274; Gösswald, 1989: 21; Kupyanskaya, 1990: 192; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 270. Senior synonym of truncicola: Roger, 1863b: 13; Bondroit, 1918: 60; Dlussky, 1967a: 81; Radchenko, 2007: 36; of truncicolopratensis: Dlussky, 1967a: 81; Bernard, 1967: 307; of menozzii, rufotruncicola, staegeri and material of the unavailable name stitzi referred here: Dlussky, 1967a: 81. Current subspecies: nominal plus finzii, frontalis.
 * truncicola. Formica truncicola Nylander, 1846a: 907 (w.q.) FINLAND. Nylander, 1849: 29 (m.). Subspecies of rufa: Forel, 1874: 52; André, 1903: 128; Ruzsky, 1905b: 330; Wheeler, W.M. 1908g: 406; Emery, 1909b: 187; Forel, 1915d: 57; Emery, 1916b: 256; Santschi, 1925f: 96. Status as species: Bingham, 1903: 334; Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 434. Senior synonym of simulata: Forel, 1894c: 403. Junior synonym of truncorum: Roger, 1863b: 13; Bondroit, 1918: 60; Emery, 1925b: 255; Bernard, 1967: 307; Dlussky, 1967a: 81; Dlussky & Pisarski, 1971: 174; Tarbinsky, 1976: 192; Kutter, 1977c: 274; Radchenko, 2007: 36.
 * truncicolopratensis. Formica rufa var. truncicolopratensis Forel, 1874: 53 (w.q.m.) SWITZERLAND. Subspecies of pratensis: Dalla Torre, 1893: 205; of rufa: Karavaiev, 1912b: 589; of truncorum: Stitz, 1939: 346; Holgersen, 1942: 14. Raised to species: Bondroit, 1918: 61. Junior synonym of truncorum: Bernard, 1967: 307; Dlussky, 1967a: 81; Dlussky & Pisarski, 1971: 174.
 * simulata. Formica simulata Smith, F. 1878b: 10 (w.) CHINA. Junior synonym of truncicola: Forel, 1894c: 403.
 * rufotruncicola. Formica rufa var. rufotruncicola Ruzsky, 1896: 68 (w.) RUSSIA. [First available use of Formica rufa subsp. pratensis form. rufotruncicola Ruzsky, 1895: 11; unavailable name.] Junior synonym of truncorum: Dlussky, 1967a: 81.
 * menozzii. Formica truncorum var. menozzii Stitz, 1939: 347 (w.) GERMANY. [First available use of Formica rufa subsp. truncicola var. menozzii Krausse, 1926c: 336; unavailable name. Note: truncicola is misspelled aruncicola in this paper.] Junior synonym of truncorum: Dlussky, 1967a: 81.
 * staegeri. Formica truncorum var. staegeri Stitz, 1939: 347 (w.) GERMANY. [First available use of Formica rufa subsp. truncicola ab. staegeri Krausse, 1926d: 264; unavailable name.] Subspecies of truncorum: Betrem, 1960b: 76. Junior synonym of truncorum: Dlussky, 1967a: 81; Dlussky & Pisarski, 1971: 174.

Additional References

 * Collingwood, C. A. 1979. The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Entomol. Scand. 8:1-174.