|
''Formica exsecta'' (the ''narrow-headed ant'' or ''excised wood ant'') is a species of ant found from Western Europe to Asia. A rare formicine ant with a deeply excised head, ''F. exsecta'' forms small mounds up to around a foot in height consisting of much finer material than that used by "true" wood ants of the ''F. rufa'' group. An interesting feature of ''F. exsecta'' is that it comes in two distinct social forms. Either a monogyne form where the colony has a single egg-laying queen, or a polygyne form where many egg-laying queens are part of the same colony. ''F. exsecta'' is placed in the Coptoformica subgenus within the genus and is closely related to ''Formica exsectoides'', an American species. Both species may form vast colony networks. The largest known polydomous system of ''F. exsecta'' consists of 3,350 nests dispersed over ca. 22 ha in Transylvania, Romania.〔Marko B ''et al.'' (2012) (The largest polydomous system of Formica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)in Europe discovered thus far in Romania ). ''North-Western Journal of Zoology'' 8: 287-291.〕〔Erős K ''et al.'' (2009) (Sharing versus monopolizing: distribution of aphid sources among nests within a Formica exsecta Nylander (Hymenoptera: formicidae) supercolony ) ''Israel Journal of Entomology'' 39: 105–127.〕 In Great Britain, ''F. exsecta'' can be found only in a few scattered heathland locations in South West England — principally Chudleigh Knighton Heath and nearby Bovey Heath which are both managed by the Devon Wildlife Trust, and in the central Scottish Highlands (including Rannoch Moor).〔(UK Biodivesrity Action Plan )〕 A population centre previously existed in the New Forest, and such eminent myrmecologists as Horace Donisthorpe recorded this species there and in Parkhurst forest on the Isle of Wight in the last century, but this seems to have declined considerably over the past few decades, and recent searches in such locations have failed to find any trace of colonies. ''F. exsecta'' has also been found in forests in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Tibet, and China. ==Behavior== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Formica exsecta」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|