Editing Formica (section)

==Social characteristics==
Ants are [[Eusociality|eusocial]] organisms – the individuals of the species work together to survive,  produce the next generation, and accomplish tasks which cannot be accomplished alone.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Avril|first1=Amaury|last2=Purcell|first2=Jessica|last3=Chapuisat|first3=Michel|date=2016-04-07|title=Ant workers exhibit specialization and memory during raft formation|journal=The Science of Nature|language=en|volume=103|issue=5–6|page=36|doi=10.1007/s00114-016-1360-5|pmid=27056046|issn=0028-1042|bibcode=2016SciNa.103...36A|s2cid=17142619|url=https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_AD50ABD6EB78.P001/REF.pdf|access-date=2020-06-05|archive-date=2020-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506004527/https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_AD50ABD6EB78.P001/REF.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  Unlike other ants, the genus ''Formica'' does not have separate [[caste]]s, which are based on an individual's specialization and morphology.  For example, ''[[Formica selysi|F. selysi]]'', a species native to [[floodplain]]s, has developed a method to deal with flooding.  Individual ants come together to form a living raft to survive the flood. Individual ants tend to take the position in the raft which they held in the past.  This return to the same role in the raft is an example of specialization.<ref name=":5" />

===Social parasitism ===
''Formica'' ants are notable for their socially parasitic behaviors.  The three categories are:<ref>Marek L. Borowiec et. al. "The evolution of social parasitism in Formica ants revealed by a
global phylogeny", https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.17.423324v1.full.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715233102/https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.17.423324v1.full.pdf |date=2023-07-15 }}</ref>

*In the ''[[Formica_exsecta|F. exsecta]]'' and ''[[Formica microgyna|F. rufa-microgyna]]'' groups, virgin queens cannot start colonies on their own, but invade colonies of other groups and by various processes eventually oust the host queen and have the host workers help them raise their own brood.  Eventually, the colony consists of only the invading queen's offspring.  This is called temporary social parasitism.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}
*In the ''[[Formica_sanguinea|F. sanguinea]]'' group, colonies are started as above, but in some species, workers raid colonies of other groups for new workers to act as a work force. ''[[Formica_sanguinea|F. sanguinea]]'' performs this behavior.<ref>cf. P. Huber via Darwin's ''[[Origin of Species]]'', in [http://www.bartleby.com/11/8003.html Chapter VIII. Instinct]</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=June 2011}}
Some species of this group need to do this to survive, for others it is optional.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}
*The ''[[Formica pallidefulva|F. pallidefulva]], [[Formica neogagates|F. neogagates]]'', and ''[[Formica fusca|F. fusca]]'' groups are those most often parasitized by the above groups.  They are also captured as workforce by ants of the genus ''[[Polyergus]]''. The evolution of this behavior is believed ultimately to have been derived from the common habit of many ''Formica'' species of adopting recently mated queens into established colonies. Indeed, in many of the socially parasitic species that do not raid other species, this "secondary polygyny" is common.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}