Scientists announced in 2012 that more than 1,000 of what creatures (formica lugubris) had been fitted with tiny radio transmitters to study the species?
Formica lugubris Formica lugubris Formica lugubris, also known as the hairy wood ant is common in the forests of the United Kingdom. "Formica lugubris" are carnivorous ants that consume a variety of different foods. Red wood ants prey on pestiferous insects and forest defoliators like spruce budworms. They live in massive nests that can contain up to half a million colony members. They form large, domed nests on southerly facing slopes in relatively open woodland. The nests have several mechanisms for keeping the internal temperature stable. The southerly orientation captures sunlight; the nest is flattened on the south side to present a
Formica rufa species group independently formed. They either bud off from existing colonies, or are formed by temporary social parasitism of "F. fusca" colonies; a "rufa" queen ousts the existing queen, lays eggs, and the "fusca" workers raise her offspring until the nest is taken over. Some species in the "F. rufa" group sometimes form enormous "supercolonies" consisting of hundreds or thousands of nests. The largest documented example is an "F. yessensis" colony in Japan covering 2.7 km containing an estimated 306 million workers and 1 million queens. European species include: North American species include: Asian Species Formica rufa species group The "Formica rufa"