Formica cunicularia

Species very common throughout Europe, even in disturbed habitats; also reported from Morocco (Rigato & Toni, 2011).

Identification
Ashy grey black with at least genae and mesopleural articulations reddish; often most of alitrunk and head may be reddish. Gula and occiput bare. Erect hairs normally absent on pronotum but occasionally one or two short erect hairs may be present on promesonotum, never on upper margin of scale. Length: 4.0-6.5 mm (Collingwood 1979).

Distribution
North Africa to South Scandinavia, Portugal to Urals (Collingwood 1979).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: India. Palaearctic Region: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iberian Peninsula, Iran, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Biology
This is a common species throughout Western Europe, nesting under stones or in small earth mounds, colonising railway embankments, sun exposed borders of woodland, dry open pasture and sea cliffs. Each nest is separate and normally has only one queen. Its habits are mainly predaceous and scavenging. Alatae occur in July and August (Collingwood 1979).

This species is a host for the slave-making species Polyergus rufescens (Romani et al., 2006).

Foraging/Diet
Formica cunicularia collect honeydew.

Novgorodova (2015b) investigated ant-aphid interactions of a dozen honeydew collecting ant species in Western Siberia pine and aspen-birch-pine forests (54°7´N, 83°06´E, 200 m, Novosibirsk) and mixed-grass-cereal steppes with aspen-birch groves (53°44´N, 78°02´E, 110 m, near Karasuk) in the Novosibirsk Region and coniferous forests in the northeastern Altai (north end of Lake Teletskoe, 51°48´N, 87°17´E, 434 m). All of the ants studied had workers that showed high fidelity to attending particular aphid colonies, i.e, individual foragers that collect honeydew tend to return to the same location, and group of aphids, every time they leave the nest. F. cunicularia honeydew collecting activities also showed some other specialization but this was dependent on colony size. Smaller colonies (hundreds of workers) did not specialize. Larger colonies (>1,000 workers), during the summer months when the aphids and ants were most active, had individual foragers that specialized on either collecting honeydew, guarding, i.e., protecting aphids from competitors, transporting honeydew, or scouting for new aphid colonies. Some individuals did not specialize and behaved like foragers from smaller colonies, while others would specialize by returning to a specific aphid colony but would as readily guard aphids as they would collect honeydew. F. cunicularia tended Chaitophorus populeti (Panzer) and Aphis craccivora Koch.

Nomenclature

 *  cunicularia. Formica cunicularia Latreille, 1798: 40 (w.q.m.) FRANCE. Combination in F. (Serviformica): Forel, 1915d: 64. Junior synonym of rufibarbis: Walckenaer, 1802: 161; Dalla Torre, 1893: 209; Ruzsky, 1905b: 385; Forel, 1915d: 64; Emery, 1916b: 255; Emery, 1925b: 250. Revived from synonymy and status as species: Yarrow, 1954a: 231. Senior synonym of rubescens: Yarrow, 1954a: 231; Dlussky, 1967a: 73; Bernard, 1967: 296; Seifert & Schultz, 2009: 261; of fuscorufibarbis: Dlussky, 1967a: 73; Dlussky & Pisarski, 1971: 166; of glebaria: Bernard, 1967: 296; Boven, 1977: 164; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 59; of glauca (and its junior synonyms caucasica, katuniensis, montivaga, montaniformis, volgensis): Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 267; of fuscoides: Arakelian, 1994: 94; Seifert & Schultz, 2009: 261.
 * fuscorufibarbis. Formica fusca var. fuscorufibarbis Forel, 1874: 54 (w.q.) SWITZERLAND. Combination in F. (Serviformica): Forel, 1915d: 63. Raised to species: Forel, 1906c: 189. Subspecies of glebaria: Bondroit, 1918: 50; of rufibarbis: Dalla Torre, 1893: 210; Stitz, 1939: 357; Novak & Sadil, 1941: 107. Junior synonym of rufibarbis: Bernard, 1967: 297; of cunicularia: Dlussky, 1967a: 73; Dlussky & Pisarski, 1971: 166. See also comment in Seifert, 2002b: 266.
 * rubescens. Formica fusca var. rubescens Forel, 1904f: 423 (w.) SWITZERLAND. [Unresolved junior primary homonym of rubescens Leach, above.] Emery, 1909b: 196 (q.); Wheeler, W.M. 1913f: 498 (m.). Subspecies of glebaria: Bondroit, 1918: 50; Boven, 1947: 188. Junior synonym of cunicularia: Yarrow, 1954a: 231; Dlussky, 1967a: 73; Bernard, 1967: 296; Seifert & Schultz, 2009: 261.
 * fuscoides. Formica (Serviformica) cunicularia subsp. fuscoides Dlussky, 1967a: 74 (w.q.m.) ARMENIA. Junior synonym of cunicularia: Arakelian, 1994: 94; Seifert & Schultz, 2009: 261.