Formica is Latin for ant. BugGuide had some interesting facts about the Formicidae family. For example, besides being scavengers and predators, they have a sweet tooth. Another interesting fact is that the males die shortly after mating and the females tear off their wings after mating. They (BugGuide) did not say why on either thing. Also depending on the species, the ants can live between 1 and 20 years. Amazing! I never knew that.
Here is what I am going to call a Field Ant. Why? Because I found it in the field. I do not know what species it is, but I do believe it is in the Formicidae family. There are over 700 species and 80 genera in North America. In the genus Formica, there are 97 species.
I found them under a Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) leaf in our field. Indeed, they were busy beavers as the saying goes.
A closer looks reveals what they were doing there. They had found a nest of treehoppers to satisfy their sweet tooth.
I bent down the ragweed to get some better light on my subjects.
An adult Typical Treehopper (Entylia carinata) is about 4 mm in length. Carinata means keeled in Latin. There is only one species in the genus in North America. Adults often stay near the nymphs to tend them.
The nymph of the Typical Treehopper is also about 4 mm in length. In a recent post, you may recall that I found this same species few weeks ago, however they were tended by Eastern Black Carpenter Ants. In fact, it looks like the treehopper has many species of friends. To identify the Typical Treehoppers (Membracidae) family look for the large pronotum (the hump in this case) like the Entylia carinata.
My last bluebird gone! So the nest is empty except for the two eggs. So the bluebird nestling is now a fledgling!
What fun to find the ants and hoppers! I don’t think I’ve seen that one before.
I never dreamed an ant could live 20 yrs. thanks for the info