Two distinct morphs in the wood ant <i>Formica polyctena</i> in Finland: a result of hybridization?

Authors

• Jouni Sorvari

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33338/ef.84281

Abstract

Wide overlaps in morphological characters among species in mound building wood ants of the Formica rufa-group have been a long-standing problem. Previous studies suggest that Formica polyctena samples from Finland may represent two different types based on queen morphology. However, worker caste has not been studied completely. I found that hairiness of workers from different colonies was bimodally distributed. Morphs (based on bimodality) differed in the abundance of erect hairs on eight out of 11 studied body parts. The hairier morph may be result of incomplete reproductive isolation between closely related species.