What is "formica fusca"

Slave \Slave\ (sl[=a]v), n. [Cf. F. esclave, D. slaaf, Dan. slave, sclave, Sw. slaf, all fr. G. sklave, MHG. also slave, from the national name of the Slavonians, or Sclavonians (in LL. Slavi or Sclavi), who were frequently made slaves by the Germans. See Slav.]

1. A person who is held in bondage to another; one who is wholly subject to the will of another; one who is held as a chattel; one who has no freedom of action, but whose person and services are wholly under the control of another.

   Art thou our slave, Our captive, at the public mill our drudge?
   --Milton.

2. One who has lost the power of resistance; one who surrenders himself to any power whatever; as, a slave to passion, to lust, to strong drink, to ambition.

3. A drudge; one who labors like a slave.

4. An abject person; a wretch. --Shak. Slave ant (Zo["o]l.), any species of ants which is captured and enslaved by another species, especially Formica fusca of Europe and America, which is commonly enslaved by Formica sanguinea. Slave catcher, one who attempted to catch and bring back a fugitive slave to his master. Slave coast, part of the western coast of Africa to which slaves were brought to be sold to foreigners. Slave driver, one who superintends slaves at their work; hence, figuratively, a cruel taskmaster. Slave hunt.

   1. A search after persons in order to reduce them to slavery.
      --Barth.

   2. A search after fugitive slaves, often conducted with bloodhounds.

      Slave ship, a vessel employed in the slave trade or used for transporting slaves; a slaver.

      Slave trade, the business of dealing in slaves, especially of buying them for transportation from their homes to be sold elsewhere.

      Slave trader, one who traffics in slaves.

      Syn: Bond servant; bondman; bondslave; captive; henchman; vassal; dependent; drudge. See Serf.

Formica fusca, a common black colored ant found in Europe, is a palaearctic ant with a range extending from Portugal in the west to Japan in the east and from Italy in the south to Fennoscandia in the north. F. fusca nests are usually found in rotten tree stumps or under stones in clearcut areas and along woodland borders and hedgerows.

Colonies are facultatively polygynous (though weakly so); though the queens coexist amicably, contribution to the brood tends to be unequal. Nests are usually small, containing 500–2,000 workers. The workers are large, at long, and fast moving, though timid. To ensure that non-nest mate eggs are not reared, these workers will engage in a process known as worker policing.

F. fusca feeds on small insects, aphid honeydew and extra floral nectaries. Alate (winged) forms are produced in June/July and nuptial flights are in July/August.

Workers have been found to have a very high resistance to some pathogens and it is thought this may be due to F.fusca utilising the antibiotic properties of their formic acid, additional to the use of their metapleural gland.

A recent study has found evidence of nepotism in F. fusca, in contrast with previous experiments with other ant species; this conclusion has been challenged, however, on the grounds that the observed pattern may result from differences in egg viability.