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It sounds like the stress is on the first syllable of 'formica' in this audio sample, though I looked it up and it seems the correct pronunciation is with the primary stress on the second syllable (i.e. 'forMIca').
Formica means ant. It does not mean beaver. Some online dictionary is confused because the expression "eager beaver" which means "enthusiastic and hardworking" uses an ant in the Italian version of the expression "formica operosa".
eager beaver n informal, figurative ([sb] enthusiastic and hardworking) sgobbone nm formica operosa nf
Wondering now what the people who make counter tops were actually thinking... "Hey, let's name this stuff after where most ants are found!".
The when clicking on the new word 'formica', 'ant' and 'beaver' are both given as translations. Only 'ant' is correct, of course.
