In the UK, Formica rufa forms communes of connected nests all with more than one Queen. It is very rare to come across isolated nests in this area containing a single queen as seems common on the continent. Presumably the continental nests are formed via single rufa Queens entering a temporary host nest containing F. fusca or F. cunnicularia and eventually replacing the queen - this would certainly deliver widely distributed young rufa nests containing a single queen each.
Presumably, older nests have the option of recruiting mated daughters but favour dispersion over recruitment - does this signify hostility towards its daughters? UK nests are much more tolerant to daughter queens as the nest in my garden is currently demonstrating. Several dozen queens were produced this year following sibling mating with their brothers. Numbers of these never bothered to leave at all but come out every day, sun themselves for a few minutes then scout around the garden till dusk then head for home. They are always accepted back by the workers without question.
I followed one queen this sunday till she reached a medium sized nest of fusca and I thought she was going to try and seek adoption but she stayed around the entrance for ages but never attempted to enter. Fusca workers were coming and going all the time but totally ignored her. A number of wood ant workers were also in the area that were her sisters but which had been brought up by a sanguinea colony. These ants had no time for her and chased her away at every opportunity.
Yet another queen was observed earlier in the year (August) trying to enter the same sanguinea nest that the rufa workers were from and very nearly getting caught by guarding sanguinea. I delivered her back to her mother nest for safety but either she or a sister kept heading for the sanguinea nest again. I saw the sanguinea kill two rufa queens during August and perhaps one of these was the queen in question. No more rufa queens were observed around the sanguinea nest after this.
Tags: In the Field | Rufa
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