[1] In England, Donisthorpe records the species as having occurred as far north as Bewdley in Worcestershire.

[2] In Formica cunicularia, the worker is an ashy grey black color and is usually 4.0–6.5 mm long.

[3] In Finland, Albrecht found that all nests were small, with single entrances in dry, hot environments with low vegetation.

[1] Its appearance and habits ally it, to some extent, with Formica rufibarbis, although the former's red markings are far less conspicuous.

Horace Donisthorpe comments:[2] An interesting coincidence of these ants is that they help lichen disperse.

[8] Slave makers P. rufescens will raid to kill adults in the F. cunicularia colony and steal their brood to be raised to do domestic tasks.

[10] When F. cunicularia daubed with extract from a slave-maker ant's Dufour's gland, there was a significant decrease in aggression towards invading workers.