Colorado Queens ID

[ACaseoftheMondays]

Caught 2 different species today. The large dark one is definitely some type of Formica. Dark one is about 12mm, the red one is about 8-9mm. I would greatly appreciate any help identifying the species of either of these. I know Formica is hard to ID (at least for me), so if specific any pics would help, please let me know and I will try to take more.

[Batspiderfish]

Are all of the Formica closups of the same queen? Since there is silvery pubescence on at least three gastral tergites, and the antennal scapes do not appear to be shorter than the length of the head (from the clypeus), then she would appear to be Formica argentea.

The reddish queen is Lasius subumbratus.
http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/
(in the guide, there is an image of two L. subumbratus queens together, but this species is not polygynous.)

[ACaseoftheMondays]

Are all of the Formica closups of the same queen? Since there is silvery pubescence on at least three gastral tergites, and the antennal scapes do not appear to be shorter than the length of the head (from the clypeus), then she would appear to be Formica argentea.

The reddish queen is Lasius subumbratus.
http://www.formiculture.com/topic/3252-much-ado-about-the-founding-of-lasius-temporary-social-parasites/
(in the guide, there is an image of two L. subumbratus queens together, but this species is not polygynous.)

Wow, your knowledge is as impressive as always. Thanks for the info; this is my first parasitic queen, and reading about them is very interesting. Unfortunately, I don't have any Lasius workers to give her, so it seems I will be letting her go.

I'm pretty sure the pics are of the same Formica queen, but I'm not 100% sure. I only found 2, and I assumed they are the same species (they look the same to me). Is there something specific you see that makes you think they may be different?

Thanks again, especially for explaining how you were able to determine the species.