Formica Rufa - Near Threatened in the UK | Advanced Species
NEED NATURAL SETUP
As standard your rufa queen will come with slave workers.
 
Proceeds from purchasing Rufa from us will go directly to supporting our Rufa Project.  We are currently raising colonies for re-introduction to the plantations in wales where the logging caused the demise of Formica.  As a red list near threatened species, we are investing into saving them and every colony purchased will assist in this project by directly contributing to the raising of the 40 colonies for restoration. 
 
Formica Rufa are famous among wood ants, they are so well known because of the mounds in which they build. Across Europe and Russia they use earth, twigs and forest floor material to build their nests above ground up to 2m high. These nest traps heat and the ants can thermally regulate their environment using the layout and size.
 
Rufa is a parasite, to found her colony she must first locate a small host nest, deceive the workers into confusion and kill the queen of the colony she has invaded. Only then will the workers be completely fooled into thinking the is and always has been the rightful queen. Although they are well known to return home and add to the queen population of their birth nest after mating.
 
We award Rufa an advanced keeping status because of the incredible nests they can build, their formic acid spray distance and their aggressive nature.
 
Controlling them in captivity as a fully grown colony would be somewhat impossible and the growth of your colony will need careful diet controls, your setup will need ventilation and your attentiveness to their requirements will need to be on-point.
 
In the wild rufa are relentless, although their primary diet is honeydew from aphids they will take on weaker prey with their impressive numbers, spraying acid onto their bite wounds until the prey is subdued.
 
They may be fast, alert and deadly but they are also somewhat clumsy.
 
Rufa are also prone to infection and moist mounds can cause mold. But they have a solution to this. They collect resin from the wounds of the coniferous trees around their nests and treat it with formic acid. This resin is used by the tree to be an antiseptic, fungicide and mold inhibitor, the Rufa strategically place it around the entrances and ants entering and leaving will walk over it to disinfect themselves. This is why we provide a piece of organic resin with your colony so the can continue this behaviour as the see fit.
 
This is not a species for the faint-hearted, multi-queen colonies in nature can house up to 400,000 workers with over 100 queens. You will need to be prepared and vigilant in your keeping but the reward of seeing this almost endangered species thrive will be worth every second.
 
Queen & Colony
Age - Up to 15 years (estimated)
Polygyne - 100's of queens per nest
Queen Size - 12mm
Parasitic - Donor workers and food required in founding
Colony Size - Colony size up to 15k per queen
Worker Size - 4mm-10mm
Temperature & Humidity
Nest 22 to 26 Degrees | Outworld 20 to 30 Degrees
Nest 45% to 65% | Outworld 30% to 60%
Diapause / Hibernation
Yes - October through March
Polymorphic (Yes)
Minor Worker - 4mm to 8mm
Major Worker - 8mm to 10mm
Bite | Acid
They will bite if threatened | Acid with long range spray
Diet
Sugars, Proteins (insects)
Always ensure a constant fresh water supply is provided
Nest Type
Natural, with added twigs and pine needles
Development
Egg to Adult Worker - 8 to 12 weeks
 
Additional The provision of organic (non heat-treated) conifer/pine resin is advised