Formica fusca
5277437
222246775
2008-06-28T09:06:47Z
Lasuisflavus
7387677
{{Taxobox
| name =
| image = fusca_feeding.jpg
| image_width = 275px
| image_caption = ''Formica fusca'' workers feeding
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
| classis = [[Insect]]a
| ordo = [[Hymenoptera]]
| familia = [[Ant|Formicidae]]
| genus = ''[[Formica]]''
| species = '''''F. fusca'''''
| binomial = ''Formica fusca''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus_Linnaeus|L.]], 1758
}}
'''''Formica fusca''''', the common black [[ant]] of [[Europe]], is a [[palaearctic]] ant with a range extending from [[Portugal]] in the east to [[Japan]] in the west and from [[Italy]] in the south to [[Fennoscandia]] in the north. ''F. fusca'' nests are usually found in rotten tree stumps or under stones in clearcut areas and along woodland borders and hedgerows.
Colonies are facultatively [[Polygyny|polygynous]] (though weakly so); though the queens coexist amicably, contribution to the brood tends to be unequal. Nests are usually small, containing 500-2,000 workers. The workers are large (8-10 mm) and fast moving, though timid. ''F. fusca'' feeds on small insects, [[aphid]] honeydew and extra floral [[nectar]]ies. Alate (winged) forms are produced in June/July and [[Nuptial_flight|nuptial flights]] are in July/August.
A recent study (Hannonen & Sundström 2003) has found evidence of [[nepotism]] in ''F. fusca'', in contrast with previous experiments with other ant species (Snyder 1993); this conclusion has been challenged, however, on the grounds that the observed pattern may result from differences in egg viability (Fournier ''et al.'' 2004).
==References==
* Collingwood CA (1979) The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica, Vol. 8, Scandinavian Science Press, Klampenborg, Denmark.
* Czechowski, W., Radchenko, A. & Czechowska, W. (2002) The Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Poland (Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw)
* Fournier, D., Aron, S. & Keller, L. (2004) Significant reproductive skew in the facultatively polygynous ant Pheidole pallidula. Molecular Ecology, 13:203-210.
* Hannonen, M. and Sundström, L. (2003) Worker nepotism among polygynous ants. Nature, 421:910.
* Snyder, L. (1993) Non-random behavioural interactions among genetic subgroups in a polygynous ant. Animal Behavior, 46:431-439.
{{commons|Formica fusca}}
[[Category:Hymenoptera of Europe]]
[[Category:Hymenoptera of Asia]]
[[Category:Formicinae]]
[[de:Grauschwarze Sklavenameise]]
[[no:Svart sauemaur]]
[[pl:Pierwomrówka łagodna]]
[[pt:Formica fusca]]
[[it:Formica fusca]]