About Formica obscuripes Forel, 1886
Formica obscuripes, commonly known as the western thatching ant, is a species of ant belonging to the family Formicidae. This species is native to North America. It constructs large mounds that are covered with small pieces of plant material. A single colony can contain up to 40,000 adult worker ants. The diet of F. obscuripes includes a wide range of insect species, nectar obtained from homopterous insects that the ants tend, and occasionally plant tissue. F. obscuripes occurs across many different habitat types in North America, especially in the United States. Most collected specimens come from the Midwest, or from the region between the Rocky Mountains and the U.S. west coast. Populations located in the Pacific Northwest often have an unusually high number of erect setae on their antennae. Hobbyists have described these Pacific Northwest populations as typically producing larger colonies and mounds than populations in other regions, but this claim has not been scientifically confirmed. Pacific Northwest populations are also set apart by the unique coloration of their gynes, which have entirely black bodies paired with red heads.
