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nortino: Scottish Queen (28. Aug 2007 18:12)

Does anybody know what species this young lady is?:

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8639/scottishqueencloseup1vs8.jpg

I found her on a coastal path in Fife (East Scotland) a few days ago. She's about 9mm long. There were other workers in the vicinity at the time, that were completely black, and about 6mm I think (bigger than Lasius niger). Don't have a photo of the workers unfortunately. I was thinking maybe she was Formica fusca. Does this sound plausible? Also, does anyone know what the 'dent' is on her abdomen? Is it just any injury? Or is she supposed to have it?

Skippy: (28. Aug 2007 18:35)

it is not Formica fusca ,Formica fusca is all black .... this is probably Formica lemani ;)

miszt: (28. Aug 2007 19:01)

If its Formica lemani then take very good care of her! they are rare ants in Scotland

JimmyVe: (28. Aug 2007 20:00)

It is defiantly a Formica species, not sure which one.

nortino: (28. Aug 2007 20:36)

it is not Formica fusca ,Formica fusca is all black .... this is probably Formica lemani ;)

Hmm, it looks like it's either Formica fusca or Formica lemani. I found this paper about ants in the Scottish Highlands (not far from where I found her):

http://www.hbrg.org.uk/WoodAnts/Antmaps.pdf

It says:

Formica lemani

Abundant and more or less ubiquitous over much of the area.

(Are you sure they're rare miszt?)

Formica fusca

A very scarce ant in Scotland, and very difficult to distinguish from F. lemani . It may be sparsely distributed in the west, and even more rarely inland. It has been confused with the much commoner F. lemani.

So I guess it's probably F. lemani. Any thoughts? I should say that it looks an awful lot like this picture of a Formica fusca that someone else posted on this site:

http://www.antstore.net/album_showpage.php?pic_id=939

They are both black with a slight red tinge to the legs:

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6415/formicafuscaexamplety7.jpg

But then if fusca are "very difficult to distinguish from F. lemani" I suppose they would look very similar :?

miszt: (28. Aug 2007 21:29)

your right Nortino, got them the wrong way round, woz having a blonde moment lol

Flan: (1. Sep 2007 01:27)

Has she hairs on the femur marked here?
That "dent" on abdomen is (I think)not dangerous injury.

Sorry for my poor English :oops: