Formica

Formica is a genus of ants, family Formicidae, subfamily Formicinae, tribe Formicini, the type genus for both the Formicidae and Formicinae, including species commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants and field ants. As of 2018 the genus comprised at least 290 extant species plus 59 extinct species, with the type species being the European red wood ant, Formica rufa; the genus fossil record spans the Eocene to the present, roughly 46 million years. Workers typically measure 4 to 8 millimeters and the genus is abundant across the temperate Northern Hemisphere, in both Nearctic and Palearctic regions, inhabiting woodlands, grasslands, cities, seasides, swamps and forests.