• [Misspelled as obscurpes by Forel, 1914c: 619.]
• Emery, 1893k: 650 (q.m.); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1953c: 165 (l.); Hung, 1969: 456 (k.)
• As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1893k: 650.
• Subspecies of Formica rufa: Mayr, 1886d: 426; Cresson, 1887: 256; Dalla Torre, 1893: 202, 206 (footnote); Forel, 1899b: 128; Forel, 1904b: 152; Forel, 1904e: 175; Wheeler, 1910a: 570; Santschi, 1911d: 7; Wheeler, 1913i: 433 (redescription); Emery, 1925d: 254; Essig, 1926: 867; Smith, 1928c: 279; Menozzi, 1932b: 312; Cole, 1936a: 37; Cole, 1937b: 137; Wheeler & Wheeler, 1944: 263; Buren, 1944a: 301; Smith, 1951c: 869.
• Status as species: Santschi, 1911d: 7; Wheeler, 1913i: 433 (redescription); Wheeler, 1917a: 535; Weber, 1935: 165; Creighton, 1940a: 1, 7 (in key); Cole, 1942: 380; Creighton, 1950a: 492; Cole, 1954c: 165; Smith, 1958c: 157; Cole, 1966b: 23 (in key); Beck et al., 1967: 70; Smith, 1967a: 372; Francoeur, 1977b: 208; Yensen et al., 1977: 185; Wheeler & Wheeler, 1978b: 394; Smith, 1979: 1460; Allred, 1982: 471; Wheeler & Wheeler, 1986g: 83; DuBois & LaBerge, 1988: 147; MacKay et al., 1988: 115; Blacker, 1992: 11; Wheeler et al., 1994: 306; Bolton, 1995b: 200; Mackay & Mackay, 2002: 357; Coovert, 2005: 150; Ward, 2005: 63.
• Senior synonym of Formica rufa aggerans: Forel, 1914c: 619; Emery, 1925d: 254; Creighton, 1940a: 1; Buren, 1944a: 301; Creighton, 1950a: 492; Smith, 1979: 1460; Bolton, 1995b: 200; Coovert, 2005: 150.
• Senior synonym of Formica rufa melanotica: Creighton, 1950a: 492; Smith, 1958c: 157; Smith, 1979: 1460; Bolton, 1995b: 200; Coovert, 2005: 150.
• Material of the unavailable name Formica rufa obscuriventris rubiginosa Emery, 1893k referred here by Creighton, 1940a: 1; Creighton, 1950a: 492; Smith, 1951c: 869; Smith, 1979: 1460; Bolton, 1995b: 200.

Junior synonyms

• Formica rufa aggerans Wheeler, 1912
• Formica rufa melanotica Creighton, 1940

Obsolete combinations

• Formica rufa obscuripes

Citations

• Allred, D. M. 1982. Ants of Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 42:415-511.
• Beck, D. E.; Allred, D. M.; Despain, W. J. 1967. Predaceous-scavenger ants in Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 27:67-78.
• Blacker, N. C. 1992. Some ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 89:3-12. PDF
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp.
• Buren, W. F. 1944a. A list of Iowa ants. Iowa State College Journal of Science 18:277-312. PDF
• Cole, A. C., Jr. 1936a. An annotated list of the ants of Idaho (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Canadian Entomologist 68:34-39. PDF
• Cole, A. C., Jr. 1937b. An annotated list of the ants of Arizona (Hym.: Formicidae). [concl.]. Entomological News 48:134-140. PDF
• Cole, A. C., Jr. 1942. The ants of Utah. American Midland Naturalist 28:358-388. PDF
• Cole, A. C., Jr. 1954c. Studies of New Mexico ants. XI. The genus Formica with a description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 29:163-167. PDF
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• Creighton, W. S. 1940a. A revision of the North American variants of the ant Formica rufa. American Museum Novitates 1055:1-10. PDF
• Creighton, W. S. 1950a. The ants of North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 104:1-585. PDF
• Cresson, E. T. Sr. 1887. Synopsis of the families and genera of the Hymenoptera of America, north of Mexico, together with a catalogue of the described species, and bibliography. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, Suppl. Vol. 1887:1-351. PDF
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