A Formica incerta field ant worker drinks nectar from a Queen Anne's Lace. Tennessee.

#Formica #Ants #Insects

Silky field ants tending black locust treehoppers for honeydew. Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

#Ants #Insects #Nature #Treehoppers #Formica

The #slave #ant #Formica #fusca (#Formicinae) is seen here on common #tansy collecting #honeydew from and guarding the #aphid #Metopeurum #fuscoviride. The #workers of this ant #species, which builds #polygynous subterranean nests, are often exploited by other species for nest building. As C. Carere et al. (2018) found, there is a linear link between #individual and #collective #behavior.

©#StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

Ref
C. Carere et al. (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2018.07.009

#Photos
©S F. Wirth 2025

The #Norwaymaple #Acer #platanoides is a native #tree of (Central) #Europe that spread northward after the last #IceAge along with mixed oak forests and is still commonly found in such #treecommunities today. Like all #trees, it offers #habitats for numerous organisms, forming complex macro#ecosystems, e.g., the #leaves, where #aphids feed, while the #ant #Formica #fusca is collecting their excretions (honeydew) as food.
#ecology #evolution
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin May 2025

#Photos
© S.F. Wirth

The #duskyant, #Formica #fusca (#Myrmicinae), is a ground-dwelling #ant with #earthnests in warmer habitats, widespread in #CentralEurope and extending across the western #Palearctic. The nests are #polygynous (severely active #queens). Like many ant species, this one also carries #phoretic organisms on its body, e.g., #mites of the #Histiostomatidae. #biodiversity #insects #Hymenoptera

© #StefanFWirth, #Berlin May 2025

Artistic Photo:

#Worker of F. fusca Berlin, May 2025, © S.F. Wirth