Formica Fusca - Wood Ant - Beginner
As a species they are a hard working, beautiful ant. Known as wood ants they are found across Europe and Russia and can be found under stones, fallen trees or in rotting / dead wood. Fusca are very fast ants, they can easily evade an enemy and flee to the safety of their nest. This evolution of agility makes fusca perfect for non-conflict situations, often targeting weak or dead prey as opposed to things that fight back.
Their nests usually contain more than one Queen, as a polygene species fusca are very accepting of new Queens at any stage of founding, mature colonies can accept queens back once they have had nuptials too, but it is this accepting nature that makes them the perfect victim of raids by Slave-Maker ants who can overwhelm and steal vast quantities of brood and pupae in a single raid. This affects fusca colony numbers drastically in areas where nearby slavemaker nests are located.
Formica are a beautiful gloss black ant which is a must have for any keepers collection. Although patience is required in founding. They can be difficult to start and like the barbarus they will eat their eggs as a defensive measure if disturbed or stressed too often. We know its hard but checking a maximum of once a week will help they stay calm.
Warning: This species has a potent formic acid which they spray. A stressed colony in an unvented setup could run into problems as they defensively spray their acid.
Colony Size
6,000-9,000 workers
Queen Age
12 to 18 years
Polygyne (Multiple Queens per colony)
Temperature
Room 20 to 27 degrees
Hibernation
Yes - late October through early March at 5 to 10 degrees.
Polymorphic (Different size casts)
No - Workers vary by a few mm but not considered polymorphic.
Sting/Spray
Spray formic acid - Caution in poorly ventilated outworlds or if you have open wounds it can touch.
Bite
Yes - a Pinch
Diet
Protein, Sugars, honey and Insects
Nest Type
Natural, Acrylic, Sand, Earth, Glass.
Size
Queen - 12mm
Worker - 4mm-8mm
Development
Egg to Adult Worker - 8 to 11 weeks
Formica Fusca - Wood Ant
The Law: states that you can release this species into the wild in the UK
Our Request: Releasing colonies into the wild is not a practice we condone as it will be difficult and stressful for the ants to re-establish in the wild and affect localised ecosystems. Rather than letting them go, contact us and we can take them back for free.
