• [Misspelled as maior by Betrem, 1953: 324 (in key).]
• Status as species: Betrem, 1926: 213; Betrem, 1953: 324 (in key).
• Junior synonym of Formica rufa: Mayr, 1863a: 420; Forel, 1874: 98 (in list); Emery & Forel, 1879: 450; Donisthorpe, 1915f: 245; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 286; Gösswald, 1941: 73; Yarrow, 1955a: 3; Betrem, 1960b: 76; Dlussky, 1967a: 93; Dlussky & Pisarski, 1971: 184; Pisarski, 1975: 48; Kutter, 1977c: 273; Bolton, 1995b: 198.
• Junior synonym of Formica polyctena: Radchenko, 2007: 37; Seifert, 2021: 156.
• [Note: Radchenko, 2007: 37, argues that while Formica major and Formica polyctena are certainly synonyms, Formica major is best regarded as a nomen oblitum, therefore Formica polyctena takes priority.]
• [Note: Seifert, 2021: 156, regards Formica major as a hybrid of Formica aquilonia × Formica polyctena.]

Citations

• Betrem, J. G. 1926. De mierenfauna van Meijendel. Levende Natuur 31:211-220. PDF
• Betrem, J. G. 1953. Enkele opmerkingen omtrent de soorten van de Formica rufa-groep (Hym.). Entomologische Berichten (Amsterdam) 14:322-326. PDF
• Betrem, J. G. 1960b. Ueber die Systematik der Formica rufa-gruppe. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 103:51-81.
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp.
• Dlussky, G. M. 1967a. Ants of the genus Formica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, g. Formica). [In Russian.]. Moskva: Nauka Publishing House, 236 pp. PDF
• Dlussky, G. M.; Pisarski, B. 1971. Rewizja polskich gatunków mrówek (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) z rodzaju Formica L. Fragmenta Faunistica (Warsaw) 16:145-224. PDF
• Donisthorpe, H. 1915f. British ants, their life-history and classification. Plymouth: Brendon & Son Ltd., xv + 379 pp. PDF
• Donisthorpe, H. 1927c. British ants, their life history and classification (2nd edn.). London: G. Routledge and Sons, xvi + 436 pp.
• Emery, C.; Forel, A. 1879. Catalogue des Formicides d'Europe. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 5:441-481. PDF
• Forel, A. 1874. Les fourmis de la Suisse. Systématique, notices anatomiques et physiologiques, architecture, distribution géographique, nouvelles expériences et observations de moeurs. Neue Denkschriften der Allgemeinen Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften 26:1-452. PDF
• Gösswald, K. 1941. Rassenstudien an der roten Waldameise Formica rufa L. auf systematischer, ökologischer, physiologischer und biologischer Grundlage. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie 28:62-124. PDF
• Kutter, H. 1977c. Hymenoptera, Formicidae. Insecta Helvetica. Fauna 6:1-298. PDF
• Mayr, G. 1863a. Formicidarum index synonymicus. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 13:385-460. PDF
• Nylander, W. 1849 ("1848"). Additamentum alterum adnotationum in monographiam formicarum borealium. Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae 3:25-48. PDF
• Pisarski, B. 1975. Mrówki Formicoidea. Katalog Fauny Polski 26:3-85.
• Radchenko, A. G. 2007. The ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the collection of William Nylander. Fragmenta Faunistica (Warsaw) 50:27-41. PDF
• Seifert, B. 2021. A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the Formica rufa group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) – the famous mound-building red wood ants. Myrmecological News 31:133-179. 10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:133 PDF
• Yarrow, I. H. H. 1955a. The British ants allied to Formica rufa L. (Hym., Formicidae). Transactions of the Society for British Entomology 12:1-48. PDF