Camponotus universitatis
| Camponotus universitatis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Tribe: | Camponotini |
| Genus: | Camponotus |
| Species: | C. universitatis |
| Binomial name | |
| Camponotus universitatis Forel, 1890
| |
This is a social parasite of Camponotus aethiops and Camponotus pilicornis (Karaman, 2012); thus, its distribution should follow that of its hosts. At present, it is known from scattered localities of southern Europe, especially from Spain, France and Italy. This is the first record from Sardinia (Rigato & Toni, 2011).
| At a Glance | • Social parasite |
Contents
Identification
Distribution
Forel (1890) described C. universitatis worker from France, but its queen and male were first described from the Iberian Peninsula by Tinaut et al. (1992). Host species for C. universitatis are C. aethiops Latreille, 1798 and C. pilicornis Roger, 1859 (Espadaler, 1981; Tinaut et al., 1992). C. universitatis is a rare ant species and has only been recorded in a few studies from Southern Europe: France (Forel, 1890; Espadaler, 1981); Switzerland (Forel, 1904; Kutter, 1936); Italy (Wurmli, 1969); Albania (Andoni, 1977) and Spain (Tinaut et al., 1992). According to Radchenko (2007), C. universitatis is distributed only in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland but he ignored a record from Albania of Andoni (1977). More recently, Lapeva-Gjonova and Kıran (2012) recorded this species from Southeast Bulgaria in the Strandzha (Istranca) Mountain region. Despite this recent record from Bulgaria and the fact that 35 other parasitic ant species (17 temporary and 18 permanent social parasitic ants) are known from Turkey (Kıran and Aktac¸, 2007), C. universitatis has not yet been recorded from Turkey. (Karaman, 2012.)
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Albania, Bulgaria, France (type locality), Germany, Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.
Distribution based on AntMaps
Distribution based on AntWeb specimens
Check data from AntWeb
Biology
This species exhibits a form of Social Parasitism.
Fungi
This species is a host for the ectoparastic fungus Laboulbenia camponoti (Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's New General Catalogue, a catalogue of the world's ants.
- universitatis. Camponotus universitatis Forel, 1890c: 218 (w.) FRANCE. Tinaut, Espadaler & Jimenez, 1992: 234 (q.m.). Combination in C. (Myrmoturba): Forel, 1914a: 267; in C. (Tanaemyrmex): Emery, 1925b: 98. See also: Baroni Urbani, 1971c: 187; Kutter, 1977c: 206.
Description
References
- Baroni Urbani, C. 1971c. Catalogo delle specie di Formicidae d'Italia (Studi sulla mirmecofauna d'Italia X). Mem. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 50: 5-287 (page 187, see also)
- Buschinger, A. (2009) Social parasitism among ants: a review. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 219-235.
- Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 98, Combination in C. (Tanaemyrmex))
- Espadaler, X., Santamaria, S. 2012. Ecto- and Endoparasitic Fungi on Ants from the Holarctic Region. Psyche Article ID 168478, 10 pages (doi:10.1155/2012/168478).
- Forel, A. 1890e. Une nouvelle fourmi. Naturaliste 12: 217-218 (page 218, worker described)
- Forel, A. 1914a. Le genre Camponotus Mayr et les genres voisins. Rev. Suisse Zool. 22: 257-276 (page 267, Combination in C. (Myrmoturba))
- Karaman, C. 2012. Camponotus ruseni n. sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) – A putative second parasitic species of the genus Camponotus Mayr. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 85, 309-317 (http://dx.doi.org/10.2317/0022-8567-85.4.309).
- Karaman, C.; Kiran, K.; Aksoy, V.; Camlitepe, Y. 2015. First record of the South European rare parasitic ant species Camponotus universitatis Forel (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Asia. Journal of the Entomological Research Society 17(1):45-49. PDF
- Kutter, H. 1977c. Hymenoptera, Formicidae. Insecta Helv. Fauna 6: 1-298 (page 206, see also)
- Rigato, S.; Toni, I. 2011. Short notes 21. Hymenoptera, Formicidae. Pp. 873-882 in: Nardi, G.; Whitmore, D.; Bardiani, M.; Birtele, D.; Mason, F.; Spada, L.; Cerretti, P. (eds.) 2011. Biodiversity of Marganai and Montimannu (Sardinia). Research in the framework of the ICP Forests network. Conservazione Habitat Invertebrati, 5. Sommacampagna, Verona: Cierre Edizioni, 896 pp. PDF
- Tinaut, A.; Espadaler, X.; Jiménez, J. J. 1992. Camponotus universitatis Forel, 1891, en la Península Ibérica. Descripción de sus sexuados (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Nouv. Rev. Entomol. (n.s.) 9: 233-238 (page 234, queen, male described)
