Brood-adoption-behavior
Guides
Formica occulta
Formica occulta is a species of ant in the genus Formica, described by Francoeur in 1973. It is known primarily as a host species for the obligatory slave-making ant Polyergus breviceps, which usurps F. occulta nests and enslaves its workers. Enslaved workers rear P. breviceps offspring alongside their own species' brood. The species has been studied in the context of host-parasite coevolutionary dynamics and brood adoption behaviors.