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species
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Formica yessensis
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Japanese Name
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Ezo-akayama-ari
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Original Reference
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Wheeler, W.M. (1913) A revision of the ants of the genus Formica (Linn?) Mayr. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 53: 379-565.
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Synonym
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Formica rufa truncicola var. yessensis Forel, 1901,
Formica truncicola var. yessensis Wheeler, 1913,
Formica truncicola yessensis: Ruzsky, 1926,
Formica truncorum var. yessensis: Wheeler, 1933,
Formica yessensis: Collingwood, 1976,
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Description
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Total length of workers 4.5 - 7 mm. Head, mesosoma, petiole and legs yellowish red-brown; head and mesosomal dorsa and legs a little darker; gaster black, its base somewhat reddish. Very similar to F. truncorum, but distinguished from it by the near absence of erect setae on the extensor surfaces of the hind tibiae and the scapes. The median portion of the upper petiolar border slightly convex to nearly flat.
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Remarks
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This species builds discrete nests at relatively well insolated places. The mounds are up to 1 m in diameter, and constructed from dead grass or conifer needles. A huge supercolony consisting of 45,000 nests, which extend by budding, is present along the coast of Ishikari Bay, Hokkaido (Higashi & Yamauchi, 1979). Females are not particularly large when compared to workers, implying that F. yessensis is possibly a temporary social parasite, like F. fukaii. Reproductive alates fly in August (Ito & Imamura, 1974). Various studies have been carried out on the ecology of this species (Higashi, 1974, 1978a, 1978b; Imamura, 1974, 1978, 1982). The southernmost known locality in Honshu is Mt. Kintoki, Kanagawa Prefecture (Kondoh, 1961).
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Distribution
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Southwest parts of Hokkaido, Honshu (the central part and northwards); Siberia, northeast Mainland China, Korean Peninsula, Taiwan.
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References
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- Forel, A. 1901. Formiciden des Naturhistorischen Museums zu Hamburg. Neue Calyptomyrmex-, Dacryon-, Podomyrma- und Echinopla-Arten. Mitt. Naturhist. Mus. Hambg., 18: 43-82.
- A revision of the ants of the genus Formica (Linn?) Mayr. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 53: 379-565.
- Ruzsky, M. 1926. A systematic list of the ants found in Siberia. I. Review of the species of the genera Camponotus (s. ext.) and Formica (s. str.). [in Russian]. Izv. Tomsk. Gos. Univ., 77: 107-111.
- Wheeler, W. M. (1933). New ants from China and Japan. Psyhe 40: 65-67.
- Collingwood, C. A. (1976). Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from North Korea. . Ann. Hist. Nat. Mus. Hung., 68, 295-309.
- Higashi, S. & K. Yamauchi (1979). Influence of a supercolonial ant Formica (Formica) yessensis Forel on the distribution of other ants in Ishikari Coast. . Jpn. J. Ecol., 29, 257-264.
- Ito, M & S. Imamura (1974). Observations on the nupital flight and internidal relationship in a polydomous ant, Formica (Formica) yessensis Forel. . J. Fac. Sci. Hokkaido Univ. Ser. VI, Zool., 19, 681-694.
- Higashi, S. (1974). Worker polyethism related with body size in a polydomous red wood ant, Formica (Formica) yessensis Forel. . J. Fac. Sci. Hokkaido Univ. Ser. VI, Zool., , 19, 695-705.
- Higashi, S. (1978a. ). Analysis of internest drifting in a supercolonial ant Formica (Formica) yessensis by individually marked workers. . Kontyu, 46, 176-191.
- Higashi, S. (1978b. ). Task and areal conservatism and internest drifting in a red wood ant Formica (Formica) yessensis Forel. . Jpn. J. Ecol., 28, 307-317.
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Editor
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Original text by Rikio Sonobe and Keiichi Onoyama. English translation by Keiichi Onoyama, edited by Robert W. Taylor.?@Revised by Masashi Yoshimura.
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