Shiny green queen

[jeoff82]

Today I found a queen which I think is Formica fusca. She shines a nice greenish colour when in the sun and the brood I found in the nest was all bare/naked castes and not cocoons. I thought fusca larvae developed into cocoons. Can anybody shed any light on this?

[shane]

you may have found a Slave-Maker Ant that takes other ant eggs and rears them up so new ants think she's there queen.

I've seen allot of them as there are green'y in colour, I dint know there proper name though.
they do stand out allot in black garden ants nests if your lucky to have a big nest under some stones just to fine next to them another nest with a ant that stands out looking like a queen but a weird colour to there proper queen.

[Wood~Ant]

Sometimes cocoons do tear off, or some ants which normally make a cocoon will not do so, call it a freak of nature; but often Formica pupa will be bare.

[shane]

I didn't want to go off topic on this as what woody says will be right as hes been in to ants before I was born ^^ and I'm still new 'ish in identifying them.

I just looked up ant's of that greeny like yellow brown ant I see allot in some big nests under wood or rocks and it turns out To be has 3 names though "Myrmecoris gracilis" or "Himacerus mirmicoides" "Ant Damsel Bug" which is a Bug or ant mimic which sucks juicers out of ant larva and eggs

They seem to get mistaken as ants and found in big nests feeding on larva. Ones I find though are a greeny yellowy brown but pics of them on net are a yellow brown but they are same

Though it was a slave maker Ant but its not.

[jeoff82]

I'll post a picture up tomorrow but I def think it's fusca. Just not seen the green shine nor did I expect all it's brood to be bare. We're see anyway when the brood develops over the next week or so.