New ant photos at myrmecos.net

Formica incerta, Illinois

Formica incerta, Illinois

Despite a widespread belief that ants produce formic acid, the habit is confined to only one of the 20-some ant subfamilies, the formicinae.  This is among the most abundant subfamilies, containing the familiar carpenter ants and field ants, and is recognizable by the single constricted waist segment and an acid-dispersing nozzle called the acidopore at the tip of the abdomen.  The most recent myrmecos.net upload covers a variety of formicine species from Arizona, Illinois, and South Africa.

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