F. incerta is a slightly paler colour and less glossy than F. pallidefulva but considerable variability exists between specimens and between colonies.

It is present in sandy and clayey soils and favors old grassland, meadows, and heathland, but is also found in sparse woodlands, forest rides, prairies, parks, lawns, and roadside verges.

[2] Formica incerta has a varied diet, and workers forage for nectar produced by extrafloral nectaries on such plants as sunflowers and partridge peas.

They also gather the honeydew from aphids and treehoppers and defend these food sources from non-nestmates, from ants of other species, and from parasitoids.

[1] They are also the main target species for raids by the slave-making ant Polyergus lucidus, which steals the pupae and late-stage larvae.