Formica polyctena

Schneider, P. (1972). Versuche zur frage der individuellen futterverteilung bei der kleinen roten waldameisen (Formica polyctena). Insectes Sociaux 19 279-299. 

Migula, P., Glowacka, E., 1996. Heavy metals as stressing factors in the red wood ants Formica polyctena) from industrially polluted forests. Fresenius J. Anal. Chem. 354, 653-659. 

Kristiansen, S.M., Amelung, W. and Zech, W. (2001) Phosphorus forms as affected by abandoned anthills Formica polyctena Forster) in forest soils sequential extraction and liquid-state NMR spectroscopy. Zeitschrift fur Pflanz-enernahrung und Bodenkunde 1 64, 49-55. 

Lofqvist, J., and G. Bergstrom Volatile Communication Substances in Dufour s Gland of Virgin Females and Old Queens of the Ant Formica polyctena. J. Chem. Ecol. 6, 309-320 (1980). 

Jaisson (1980) went on to show that early experience could also control environmental preferences in ants. Young Camponotus vagus and Formica polyctena workers were kept for three to five weeks in artificial nests containing thyme. They are normally repelled by the odour of thyme and there is some indication that it is toxic to the ants over a long period. In a choice chamber, the ants exposed to thyme then selected a part of the chamber containing thyme. The possibility remains that response to environmental odours and pheromones may depend in some measure on such learning processes. 

Socially living ants establish above-ground and underground colonies to guarantee an effective development of their brood in varying climates. These colonies are often characterized by hills of considerable size and an appropriate shape to collect solar irradiation. Measurements show that the temperature in the central brood zone remains rather constant inspite of fluctuating ambient values. Moreover, these temperatures are significantly above the environment, typically around 25 °C in nests of the wood ant Formica polyctena. Several theories were developed to explain the increased temperature in the nest ... 

Temperature 0, mass of nest material wn, number of ants a, mass of ants /Ma and heat production rates by nest material Pn and ants Pa in the 3 layers of a typical German ant hill Formica polyctena) in summer. [125]... 

Heat contribution P by different sources to the energy balance of a hill of the wood ant Formica polyctena on a summer day [127]. 

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