Formica rufa species group

{{Short description|Group of ants}}

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Formica rufa species group}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|name=Formica rufa species group

|image=A Formica rufa sideview.jpg

|image_caption=Formica rufa worker

|image2=Formicidae - Formica rufa (winged male).JPG

|image2_caption=Formica rufa group winged male

|taxon=Formica rufa species group

|subdivision_ranks=Species

|subdivision=(see text)

}}

The Formica rufa group is a subgeneric group within the genus Formica, first proposed by William Morton Wheeler. This group contains the mound-building species of Formica commonly termed "wood ants" or "thatch-mound ants", which build prominent nests consisting of a mound of grass, litter, or conifer needles.{{cite book

|last=Gösswald

|first=Karl

|title=Die Waldameise 1

|publisher=Wiesbaden : Aula-Verlag

|date=1989

|location=Wiesbaden

|isbn=3-89104-475-5

|url-access=registration

|url=https://archive.org/details/diewaldameise1bi0001goss

}} The species Formica rufa or the red wood ant is the type species of this subgroup.

File:Mercantour2.jpg

This particular group can inhabit open deciduous woodlands, dense pine forests, and even moorland. Workers vary in size, the largest reaching about {{convert|10|mm}} long. They can produce formic acid in their abdomens and eject it {{convert|12|cm}} in the air when threatened.Dr Timothy Batchelor [https://www.msu.edu/~keagy/ASAB_feedback_49.pdf Msu.edu - Southern red wood ant Formica rufa] The only function of males is to mate in flight with queens. Species previously attributed to the Microgyna group were transferred to the F. rufa group by the Wheelers in 1986.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}