In large aggregations of forest ants, Formica species, it has been noticed that the Formica species attacks the early instars of the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar. It was stated in the article by Weseloh that the forest ants were not considered a biological control agent. There was a significant increase in moth populations were the ants were reduced in numbers experimentally. This supports evidence for the Formica species to be investigated as a biological control agent. Ants are obviously relentless when it comes to foraging whether it is plant or animal material.
Ants have the ability to take over a nest of a different organism by several means.
They can proceed with an all out attack such as the termites nest or they can parasitize a bivouac such as the Polyergis breviceps species of ant. In the P. breviceps, it has been viewed that the queen has lost the ability to raise her brood. She must therefore find another species of ant to facilitate help on her brood. The parasitic queen must find a colony of ants that has a queen in which the P. breviceps queen can attack and kill. She will attack and kill the queen of the other species, for example the Formica species, in order to get the chemical odors needed to be excepted by the colony residents.