Formica rufa, also known as the red wood ant, southern wood ant, or horse ant, is a boreal member of the Formica rufa group of ants, and is the type species for that group, being described already by Linnaeus.[2] It is native to Eurasia, with a recorded distribution stretching from the middle of Scandinavia to the northern Iberia and Anatolia, and from Great Britain to Lake Baikal,[3][2] with unconfirmed reportings of it also to the Russian Far East.[3] There are claims that it can be found in North America,[4] but this is not confirmed in specialised literature,[3] and no recent publication where North American wood ants are listed mentions it as present,[5][3] while records from North America are all listed as dubious or unconfirmed in a record compilation.[6] The workers' heads and thoraces are colored red and the abdomen brownish-black, usually with dark patches on the head and promensonotum,[7] although some individuals may be more uniform reddish and even have some red on the part of the gaster facing the body.[2] In order to separate them from closely related species, specimens needs to be inspected under magnification, where difference in hairiness are among the telling characteristics, with Formica rufa being hairier than per example Formica polyctena but less hairy than Formica lugubris.[2] Workers are polymorphic, measuring 4.5–9 mm in length.[7] They have large mandibles, and like many other ant species, they are able to spray formic acid from their abdomens as a defence.[3] Formic acid was first extracted in 1671 by the English naturalist John Ray by distilling a large number of crushed ants of this species.[8] Adult wood ants primarily feed on honeydew from aphids. Some groups form large networks of connected nests with multiple queen colonies, while others have single-queen colonies.
^Social Insects Specialist Group (1996). "Formica rufa". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T8645A12924924. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T8645A12924924.en.
^ abcdSeifert, Bernhard (2021). "A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the Formica rufa group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) – the famous mound-building red wood ants". Myrmecological News. 31: 133–179. doi:10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:133.
^ abcdeStockan, Jennie A. (2016). Wood Ant Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press. p. 304. ISBN 9781107261402. Archived from the original on 2019-01-11. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
^Robinson, William H. (2004). Urban Insects and Arachnids: A Handbook of Urban Entomology. Cambridge University Press. p. 247. ISBN 978-0521812535. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
^Jurgensen, Martin F.; Storer, Andrew J.; Risch, Anita C. (2005). "Red wood ants in North America". Ann. Zool. Fennici: 235–242.
^"Antmaps.org - Formica rufa". Archived from the original on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
^ abCollingwood, C.A. (1979). The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Scandinavian Science Press LTD. p. 175. ISBN 978-90-04-27333-7. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
^Charles Earle Raven (1986). John Ray, naturalist : his life and works. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31083-3.
Formicarufa, also known as the red wood ant, southern wood ant, or horse ant, is a boreal member of the Formicarufa group of ants, and is the type species...
European red wood ant Formica rufa. Ants of this genus tend to be between 4 and 8 mm long. Ants belonging to the Formica genus possess a single knob or...
The Formicarufa group is a subgeneric group within the genus Formica, first proposed by William Morton Wheeler. This group contains the mound-building...
straw from pine trees—and the formic acid that constitutes their venom. Formicarufa is one such ant, but there are others with similar characteristics. Forelius...
Jersey and Guernsey. Formicarufa, red or southern wood ant – A large ant. It builds large thatched mounds in open woodland. Formica rufibarbis – A large...
and Fagaceae (Quercus) species. Larvae live in nests of red wood ant (Formicarufa), feeding on vegetable refuses. Lachnaia italica italica (Weise, 1881)...
"Toxic properties of the chemical defence systems in the competitive ants Formicarufa and F. sanguinea". Oikos. 28 (1): 137–15. Bibcode:1977Oikos..28..137L...
comparison to other social insects, with a focus on red wood ants ( Formicarufa group)". F1000Research. 2: 280. doi:10.12688/f1000research.2-280.v2....
a member of the Formicarufa species group. "Formica fossaceps Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 18 January 2018. "Formica fossaceps Report"...
ISBN 978-1-4020-6242-1. Weber, N (1935). "The Biology of the Thatching Ant, Formicarufa obscuripes Forel, in North Dakota" (PDF). Ecological Monographs. 5 (2):...
Seifert - 2021 A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the Formicarufa group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) – the famous mound-building red wood...
coexistence of ladybirds (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and the wood ant Formicarufa : seasonal effects, interspecific variability and the evolution of a...
live inside colonies of the European red wood ant Formica polyctena, or the red wood ant Formicarufa. Each larva produces a glandular secretion which...
Formica rufibarbis is a European formicine ant of the Formica fusca group. In the classification by Auguste Forel, it is treated in the subgenus Serviformica...
in this species and another species of ant, Formicarufa. CPPV affects bees, ants, and mites. vagus. Formica vaga Scopoli, 1763: 312 (w.) AUSTRIA. Latreille...
Competition between Formica cinerea Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and co-occurring ant species, with special reference to Formicarufa L.: direct and indirect...
Formica paralugubris is a species of ant. It is a member of the Formicarufa species group native to the Alps in the Palearctic realm. It is a cryptic...
doi:10.5281/zenodo.25567. Emery, C. (1869). "Descrizione di una nuova formica italiana" (PDF). Annuario del Museo Zoologico della Reale Università de...
larvae of a number of different ant species, notably Lasius niger and the Formicarufa group. These ants are usually found on heathland. However Schmid (2004)...
model species of P. festivus are the Formica fusca'', Formicarufa, and Formica sanguinea from the genus Formica as well as Lasius flavus, Lasius fuliginosus...
species of European red wood ant in the genus Formica: Formica polyctena Formica pratensis Formicarufa This page is an index of articles on animal species...
wingspan is 15–18 mm.The larvae feed on detritus in ant nests (Formica aquilonia, Formica lugubris and Formicarufa) . Fauna Europaea Hants Moths v t e...
2013. "Art: Formicarufa - röd skogsmyra". www.dyntaxa.se. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved 15 August 2013. "Art: Formica rufibarbis...
the chronic bee paralysis virus was reported for the first time in Formicarufa and another species of ant, Camponotus vagus. Acute bee paralysis virus...