Formica subsericea (Silky Field Ant)

*Also includes Formica podzolica, Formica glacialis

This is our collection of most of the field ants, or Serviformica. These are large, black ants at queens from 8-12 mm and workers from 6-9mm. They grow large colonies up to 5000 workers in just 3 years. They prefer 22-26 Celsius and like around 50% humidity, though there is slight variation across species. They're more skittish than most ants, and so are of medium difficulty to start, but are extremely enthusiatic and fast growing once they break 50 workers. In the wild, Formica are some of the most dominant ants, hunting down other species and consuming large amounts of biomass. We get many of these each year, though the numbers are variable.

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