Aphaenogaster cardenai

Aphaenogaster cardenai
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Aphaenogaster
Species group:	splendida
Species:	A. cardenai
Binomial name
Aphaenogaster cardenai Espadaler, 1981 Specimen Labels

Aphaenogaster cardenai is restricted to caves and subterranean habitats in the Iberian Peninsula (Tinaut and Perez 2011; Ortuño et al. 2014) while Bracko et al. (2019) found a few scattered workers in Slovenia while digging in stony ground at a depth of approximately 50 cm.

At a Glance

• Cave-Subterranean

Identification

A member of the Aphaenogaster splendida-group.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Aphaenogaster workers of Europe
• Key to Iberian Peninsula Aphaenogaster species
• West European Aphaenogaster subterranea group species (queens and males)

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 38.416667° to 36.931944°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Iberian Peninsula, Spain (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• cardenai. Aphaenogaster cardenai Espadaler, 1981: 77, 2 figs. (w.) SPAIN.
  • Tinaut, 1986: 245 (m.).
  • Status as species: Tinaut, 1986: 245; Bolton, 1995b: 68; Borowiec, L. 2014: 10; Lebas, et al. 2016: 263; Gómez, et al. 2018: 221 (in key).

References

• Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Bračko, G., Lapeva-Gjonova, A., Salata, S., Borowiec, L., Polak, S. 2019. Aphaenogaster illyrica, a new species from the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 862: 89–107 (DOI 10.3897/zookeys.862.32946).
• Cantone S. 2017. Winged Ants, The Male, Dichotomous key to genera of winged male ants in the World, Behavioral ecology of mating flight (self-published).
• Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
• Espadaler, X. 1981b [1979]. Una nueva hormiga de la Península Ibérica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Misc. Zool. (Barc.) 5: 77-81 (page 77, 2 figs. worker described)
• Gomez, K., Martinez, D., Espadaler, X. 2018. Phylogeny of the ant genus Aphaenogaster (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Iberian Peninsula, with the description of a new species. Sociobiology 65(2): 215-224 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v65i2.2099).
• Ortuño, V.M., Gilgado, J.D., Tinaut, A. 2014. Subterranean ants: The case of Aphaenogaster cardenai (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Insect Science 14: 212 (DOI 10.1093/jisesa/ieu074).
• Schifani, E., Alicata, A., Borowiec, L., García, F., Gentile, V., Gómez, K., Nalini, E., Rigato, F., Schär, S., Scupola, A., Vila, R., Menchetti, M. 2023. Unrecognized for centuries: distribution and sexual caste descriptions of the West European Aphaenogaster species of the subterranea group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1153, 141–156 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1153.98297).
• Schifani, E., Alicata, A., Menchetti, M., Borowiec, L., Fisher, B.L., Karaman, C., Kiran, K., Oueslati, W., Salata, S., Blatrix, R. 2022. Revisiting the morphological species groups of West-Palearctic Aphaenogaster ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) under a phylogenetic perspective: toward an evolutionary classification. Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 80, 627–648 (doi:10.3897/asp.80.e84428).
• Tinaut, A. & Pérez, T. 2011. Aphaenogaster cardenai Espalader, 1981, una hormiga ligada con las cavidades. Actualización de su distribución (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Monografıas Bioespeleol. 6: 4–6.
• Tinaut, A., Ruano, F. 2021. Biogeography of Iberian ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Diversity 13, 88. (doi:10.3390/d13020088).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Espadaler, X. "Formicidos de las sierras de Cazorla, del Pozo y Segura (Jaén, España)." Ecología 11 (1997): 489-499.
• Espadaler, X. "Una nueva hormiga de la Península Ibérica." Miscellanea Zoologica 5 (1981): 77-81.
• Gomez K., D. Martinez, and X. Espadaler. 2018. Phylogeny of the ant genus Aphaenogaster (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Iberian Peninsula, with the description of a new species. Sociobiology 65: 215-224.
• Martínez Ibáñez, M. D. "Nuevas citas para la Península Ibérica de Proceratium melinum, Aphaenogaster cardenai y Messor lobicornis." Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología 10 (1986): 403.
• Ordóñez-Urbano C., J. Reyes-López, and S. Carpintero-Ortega. 2007. Estudio faunísidos de los formícidos (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) asociados a los bosques de ribera en la Provincia de Córdoba (España). Primeras Aportaciones. Boletin Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa 40: 367-375.
• Ortuno V. M., J. D. Gilgado, and A. Tinaut. 2014. Subterranean Ants: The Case ofAphaenogaster cardenai(Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Insect Sci. 14(212): DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieu074.
• Sanchez-Gil Jimeno R., and J. L. Reyes-Lopez. 2016. Study of ants species of the Sierra de San Carlos del Valle (Ciudad Real) and updating the provincial check list (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent. 40 (1-2): 93-109.
• Tinaut A. 2010. New record of Aphaenogaster cardenai Espadaler, 1981. Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent. 33 (3-4): 527-528.
• Tinaut A. 2015. New localities for Aphaenogaster cardenai Espadaler, 1981 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent. 39 (3-4): 421-424.
• Tinaut A. 2016. Ants of the Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Mountains Natural Park (Andalusia, Spain) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent., 40 (1-2): 125-159.