Temnothorax andrei

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Temnothorax andrei
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Temnothorax
Species group: andrei
Species: T. andrei
Binomial name
Temnothorax andrei
(Emery, 1895)

Temnothorax andrei casent0005683 profile 1.jpg

Temnothorax andrei casent0005683 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Synonyms

Temnothorax andrei occurs in relatively dry coniferous forests, oak woodland, laurel forest, pinyon-juniper and cool deserts. Nests are small, usually less than 100 workers, and found under stones or in loose layers of large stones. Colonies have also been found living within Camponotus and Formica nests.

Identification

Prebus 2017 - A member of the andrei clade.

Mackay (2000) - This is a small, light yellow or brown species with a 12 segmented antenna; striae are on head, except for a narrow central strip which is smooth and shining, entire mesosoma, petiole and postpetiole are punctate. The clypeus has a number of poorly defined carinae, the medial carina is poorly developed. The subpeduncular tooth is well developed, the petiolar node is blunt and rounded in profile, gaster entirely smooth and shining. The propodeal spines consist of small angles. The postpetiole is not broadened. The hairs on the petiole and postpetiole are somewhat clavate.

Although similar to the following species, differs in that the node of the petiole is not broadly rounded. It would be easily separated from Temnothorax bestelmeyeri by the smaller eyes, from Temnothorax terrigena in that the head has striae (not punctate) and from Temnothorax furunculus by the very different sculpture of the clypeus (numerous, poorly developed carinae instead of a single medial carina and 2 prominent lateral carinae). Specimens from Arizona (Cochise Co.) are roughly sculptured, having poorly defined rugae on head, mesosoma and top of petiole and may represent an undescribed species.

Ward (2005): In coastal regions of central and northern California populations of T. andrei tend to produce workers that are darker in color, with a shinier head and better developed propodeal spines.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

USA, MEXICO: US - Washington, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico; Mexico - Baja California Norte

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 48.421° to 19.019°.

     
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).
Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Habitat

Dryer habitats including oak woodland, dry coniferous forest, laurel forest, pinyon-juniper, and cool desert (summarized by Mackay 2000).

Abundance

Common.

Biology

Colony Attributes

Cole (1958) found colonies contained from 32 to 109 workers but, based on the collection information included in his account of Temnothorax andrei, this is based on a small number of samples.

Nesting Habits

Nests are found under stones or in interstitial spaces between rocks (Wheeler and Wheeler, 1973, 1986; Cole 1958, Mackay. pers. obs.).

Flight Period

X X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: Cole, 1958; antkeeping.info.

Sexuals have been found in nests June and July (Cole, 1958).

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Other Ants

This species occasionally lives in nests of Camponotus yogi (as a xenobiont, found in chaparral, in living stems of Haplopappus pinifolius; Creighton & Snelling, 1966; Kanizsai et al., 2013) as well as with other Camponotus and Formica (Creighton and Snelling, 1966), including Formica moki (Mann, 1911) and the thatched nests of Formica ravida (Mackay & Mackay, 1984).

Castes

Worker

Mcz-ent00668284 Temnothorax andrei hef.jpgMcz-ent00668284 Temnothorax andrei hal.jpgMcz-ent00668284 Temnothorax andrei had.jpgMcz-ent00668284 Temnothorax andrei lbs.JPG
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Temnothorax andrei casent0102835 head 1.jpgTemnothorax andrei casent0102835 profile 1.jpgTemnothorax andrei casent0102835 dorsal 1.jpgTemnothorax andrei casent0102835 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0102835. Photographer Jen Fogarty, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

  • andrei. Leptothorax (Leptothorax) andrei Emery, 1895c: 322, pl. 8, fig. 15 (w.) U.S.A. Cole, 1958c: 537 (q.m.). Combination in L. (Myrafant): Smith, D.R. 1979: 1392; in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 271. Senior synonym of heathii, occidentalis, ocellatus: Ward, 2005: 15. See also: Wheeler, W.M. 1903c: 256; Mackay, 2000: 316.
  • heathii. Leptothorax nitens var. heathii Wheeler, W.M. 1903c: 245 (w.) U.S.A. Subspecies of nitens: Creighton, 1950a: 265. Junior synonym of nitens: Cole, 1958c: 536; of andrei: Ward, 2005: 15.
  • occidentalis. Leptothorax nitens subsp. occidentalis Wheeler, W.M. 1903c: 245 (w.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of nitens: Creighton, 1950a: 265; of andrei: Ward, 2005: 15.
  • ocellatus. Leptothorax (Myrafant) ocellatus Mackay, 2000: 383, figs. 19, 143-145 (w.) U.S.A. Combination in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 272. Junior synonym of andrei: Ward, 2005: 15.

Type Material

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Testacea, abdomine postice obscuriore, pedibus pallidis, capite, thorace pedunculoque opacis, abdomine reliquo nitido; capite longitrorsum punctat-ruguloso, genis clypeoque striatis, hoc et linea media frontis et verticis nitidulis, clypeo ipso medio debiliter carinato, antice subsinuato, mandibulis striatis; antennis 12 articulatis, articulo funiculi primo sequentibus 3 una paulo breviore, clavae articulo 2. praecedente paulo majore; thorace confertim punctato, dorso haud impresso, dentibus metanoti crassis, pedunculi subtilius punctati segrnento 1. antice longius petiolato, superne nodo subrotundato, 2. praecedente tertia parte circiter latiore, parum latiore quam longiore; pilis corporis parcis, brevibus, clavatis. Long. 2 1/4 mm.

Queen

(Cole 1958) Head moderately shining, longitudinally punctato-rugulose; dorsum with rather coarse and numerous, scattered, widely-spaced, short, blunt, yellow, fully erect hairs which are subequal in length; gular region with several slender, moderately long, pointed hairs. Thorax with dorsum very smooth, nearly free of any sculpture, highly shining; lateral surfaces shining, very faint longtidinally striolate except for those of epinotum which are rather strongly longitudinally punctato-rugulose and dull; epinotal spines prominent, rather long, very broad at base, dully pointed at apex, directed posteriorly; infraspinal facet shining, faintly punctate; hairs virtually limited to dorsum and similar to those of cephalic dorsum but more sparse. Petiolar and postpetiolar nodes like those of worker; hairs limited to nodes, somewhat longer than those on head and thorax.

Male

(Cole 1958) Head finely and sparsely punctate, shining; vertex with a few widely-spaced, fine, blunt, erect, golden hairs. Thorax faintly shagreened, strongly shining; dorsum (except epinotum) and petiolar and postpetiolar nodes smooth, strongly shining. Gaster with sparse, slender, pointed, erect and suberect hairs.

Karyotype

  • n = 10 (USA) (Fischer, 1987) (as Leptothorax andrei).

Etymology

Patronym. Named after the collector (André) that supplied Emery with a worker.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Adams T. A., W. J. Staubus, and W. M. Meyer. 2018. Fire impacts on ant assemblages in California sage scrub. Southwestern Entomologist 43(2): 323-334.
  • Allred D. M. 1982. Ants of Utah. The Great Basin Naturalist 42: 415-511.
  • Allred, D.M. 1982. The ants of Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 42:415-511.
  • Backlin, Adam R., Sara L. Compton, Zsolt B. Kahancza and Robert N. Fisher. 2005. Baseline Biodiversity Survey for Santa Catalina Island. Catalina Island Conservancy. 1-45.
  • Boulton A. M., Davies K. F. and Ward P. S. 2005. Species richness, abundance, and composition of ground-dwelling ants in northern California grasslands: role of plants, soil, and grazing. Environmental Entomology 34: 96-104
  • Creighton W. S., and R. R. Snelling. 1967. The rediscovery of Camponotus (Myrmaphaenus) yogi Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche (Camb.) 73: 187-195.
  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • Des Lauriers J., and D. Ikeda. 2017. The ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, USA with an annotated list. In: Reynolds R. E. (Ed.) Desert Studies Symposium. California State University Desert Studies Consortium, 342 pp. Pages 264-277.
  • Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
  • Fisher B. L. 1997. A comparison of ant assemblages (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) on serpentine and non-serpentine soils in northern California. Insectes Sociaux 44: 23-33
  • Hoey-Chamberlain R. V., L. D. Hansen, J. H. Klotz and C. McNeeley. 2010. A survey of the ants of Washington and Surrounding areas in Idaho and Oregon focusing on disturbed sites (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology. 56: 195-207
  • Holway D.A. 1998. Effect of Argentine ant invasions on ground-dwelling arthropods in northern California riparian woodlands. Oecologia. 116: 252-258
  • Johnson R. Personnal Database. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://www.asu.edu/clas/sirgtools/resources.htm
  • Johnson, R.A. and P.S. Ward. 2002. Biogeography and endemism of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Baja California, Mexico: a first overview. Journal of Biogeography 29:1009–1026/
  • La Rivers I. 1968. A first listing of the ants of Nevada. Biological Society of Nevada, Occasional Papers 17: 1-12.
  • Mackay W. P. 2000. A review of the New World ants of the subgenus Myrafant, (genus Leptothorax) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 36: 265-444.
  • Mackay, W. P., Lowrie, D., Fisher, A., Mackay, E. E., Barnes, F. 1988. The ants of Los Alamos County, New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pp. 79-131 in: Trager, J. C. (ed.) Advances in myrmecology. Leiden: E. J. Brill, xxvii + 551 pp.
  • Mackay W. P. and Mackay, E. E. 2002. The ants of New Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 400 pp.
  • Mallis A. 1941. A list of the ants of California with notes on their habits and distribution. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 40: 61-100. 
  • Smith F. 1941. A list of the ants of Washington State. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 17(1): 23-28.
  • Snelling R.R., M. L. Borowiec, and M. M. Prebus. 2014. Studies on California ants: a review of the genus Temnothorax (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 372: 27–89. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.372.6039
  • Staubus W. J., E. S. Boyd, T. A. Adams, D. M. Spear, M. M. Dipman, W. M. Meyer III. 2015. Ant communities in native sage scrub, non-native grassland, and suburban habitats in Los Angeles County, USA: conservation implications. Journal of Insect Conservervation 19:669–680
  • Vasquez-Bolanos M. 2011. Checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Mexico. Dugesiana 18(1): 95-133.
  • Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
  • Ward P. S. 1987. Distribution of the introduced Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis) in natural habitats of the lower Sacramento Valley and its effects on the indigenous ant fauna. Hilgardia 55: 1-16
  • Ward P. S. 2005. A synoptic review of the ants of California (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 936: 1-68.
  • Wetterer, J. K.; Ward, P. S.; Wetterer, A. L.; Longino, J. T.; Trager, J. C.; Miller, S. E. 2000. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Santa Cruz Island, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 99:25-31.
  • Wetterer, J.K., P.S. Ward, A.L. Wetterer, J.T. Longino, J.C. Trager and S.E. Miller. 2000. Ants (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) of Santa Cruz Island, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Science 99(1):25-31.
  • Wheeler G. C., and J. Wheeler. 1986. The ants of Nevada. Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, vii + 138 pp.
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