Camponotus boghossiani

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Camponotus boghossiani
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Camponotus
Subgenus: Myrmentoma
Species group: kiesenwetteri
Species: C. boghossiani
Binomial name
Camponotus boghossiani
Forel, 1911

Camponotus boghossiani casent0281575 p 1 high.jpg

Camponotus boghossiani casent0281575 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Synonyms

This ground-nesting species is usually associated with warm mediterranean habitats. Nests have been observed in cracked rock on sunny border of fir forests (Borowiec & Salata, 2021).

Identification

Salata et al. (2019) - A member of the Camponotus kiesenwetteri species group. Head, mesosoma, and gaster uniformly black; metanotal groove present, shallow; propodeum without or with indistinct bulge-like protrusions; body densely punctate, appears dull; base of scape without extension; whole body bears long, thick, pale, dense and erect setae, and short appressed microsetae; petiolar scale thick.

Density of sculpture slightly differs within this species and populations from Peloponnese and Aegean Islands are slightly more sculptured than populations from western Turkey.

Camponotus boghossiani is most similar to Camponotus nitidescens and Camponotus schulzi and differs from them in the stronger sculpture of the mesosoma and gaster which, at first glance, appears very dull. While in both relatives the sculpture is slightly diffused and the surface is at least partly shiny. Camponotus kiesenwetteri has a similarly sculptured body surface but differs in having the posterior margin of the propodeum more or less excavate and forming well-developed, lateral dentate protrusions while in C. boghossiani the posterior margin of the propodeum is straight, without protrusions. Isolated specimens of C. kiesenwetteri, with posterior margin of propodeum very shallowly excavate, at first glance look very similar to specimens of C. boghossiani but can be easily be separated by having an antennal scape with a distinct basal extension, while in C. boghossiani the base of the antennal scape has no extension.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Salata et al. (2019) - Greece: North Aegean Islands, Crete (Heraklion), South Aegean Islands (Cyclades, Dodecanese), Peloponnese (Messinia); Turkey: Antalya, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, Denizli, Karaman, Kütahya, Muğla, and Uşak.

Niche modeling, with precipitation of the wettest quarter as the most influential variable, indicates there are additional highly suitable areas for C. boghossiani, especially along the coast of Turkey, Cyprus and Crete.

This is an eastern and southern species known from the Aegean Islands, Crete, Cyclades, the Dodecanese and Peloponnese. Record from Thasos is first for Macedonia and the most northwestern in the Balkan region (Borowiec et al., 2022).

This is a southern and eastern species in Greece, known from Aegean Islands, Crete, Cyclades and Dodecanese, from mainland Greece known only from Peloponnese (Borowiec & Salata, 2021).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 39.75° to 35.14444°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Greece (type locality), Türkiye (type locality).

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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Biology

Borowiec and Salata (2022), for Greece - Thermophilous species, prefers luminous forests, both coniferous and deciduous. Noted from streams with plane tree trees, small pine trees inside olive plantations, roadsides in pine forests, dry gorges, deep canyons with oak forests, pastures with frygana, and a single record from an agricultural area. Nests under stones. Most records are from altitudes below 700 m, the highest being from Parnon Mts., Peloponnese at 1700 m.

See the Camponotus kiesenwetteri species group page for additonal information about the biology of C. boghossiani.

Castes

Worker

Salata and Borowiec 2018b. Figure 9-10, scale bar = 1 mm. Photo L. Borowiec.
Salata et al. 2019. Figure 11-12. Camponotus boghossiani major (17) and minor (18).

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Nomenclature

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

  • boghossiani. Camponotus boghossiani Forel, 1911d: 357 (s.w.) TURKEY.
    • Type-material: syntype major and minor workers (numbers not stated).
    • Type-locality: Turkey: Aivaly Peninsula, nr Mitylene (Greece) (“found running on the pile of wood from Aivaly…. deposited at Smyrna”), iv.-v.1910 (A. Forel).
    • Type-depository: MHNG.
    • Combination in C. (Orthonotomyrmex): Forel, 1914a: 273;
    • combination in C. (Myrmentoma): Emery, 1925b: 121.
    • Status as species: Emery, 1925b: 121; Bolton, 1995b: 89; Radchenko, 1996b: 1197 (in key); Radchenko, 1997b: 705; Karaman, C. et al. 2011: 185; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 472; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 6; Karaman, C. & Aktaç, 2013: 50 (in key); Borowiec, L. 2014: 27 (see note in bibliography); Lebas, et al. 2016: 136; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2018: 4; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 7; Salata, Loss, et al. 2019: 91; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2022: 76.
    • Senior synonym of stenotica: Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 7; Salata, Loss, et al. 2019: 91.
    • Distribution: Greece, Turkey
  • stenotica. Camponotus boghossiani var. stenotica Emery, 1915h: 7 (in text), (w.) GREECE (Samos).
    • Type-material: holotype minor worker.
    • Type-locality: Greece: Samos I., 1887 (E. von Oertzen).
    • [Note: this taxon is based on a worker of angustatus ( Latreille, 1798: 34), sensu Forel, 1889: 261, misidentification.]
    • Type-depository: MNHU.
    • Subspecies of boghossiani: Emery, 1925b: 121; Bolton, 1995b: 125; Legakis, 2011: 33.
    • Junior synonym of boghossiani: Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 7; Salata, Loss, et al. 2019: 91.

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

Description

Worker

Borowiec and Salata (2022) - Moderately large, polymorphic; minor worker: HL: 1.111-1.198 (mean 1.136); HW: 0.904-1.127 (mean 0.934); SL: 1.127-1.214 (mean 1.172); EL: 0.254-0.276 (mean 0.266); ML: 1.54-1.83; MW: 0.84-0.89. Color. Body black, only anterior margin of pronotum and apical half of mandibles yellowish to reddish brown and posterior margins of gastral tergites whitish yellow; antennae brown, base and apex of scapus usually paler than rest of surface, yellowish to reddish brown, only occasionally scapus mostly yellowish with obscure broadened apical part, in extreme case scapus almost completely black and funiculus dark brown; coxa, femora and tibiae brown to dark brown, trochanters and extreme apex of femora and tibiae often partly yellowish, tarsi from yellow to brown, basitarsus often darker than subsequent tarsomeres. Head. Stout, 1.2 times longer than wide, in front of eyes softly converging anterad, behind eyes regularly rounded, posterior margin slightly convex. Clypeus trapezoidal, with anterior margin slightly convex and slightly crenulate, without median emargination, posterior margin in the middle emarginate by frontal triangle, whole surface distinctly microreticulated, surface opalescent dull, covered with sparse and short, hardly visible appressed hairs, anterior margin with a row of 4-6 very long setae and between long setae often with few very short setae, whole Clypeus with several moderately long and long erected setae. Head distinctly microreticulate, surface opalescent dull, frons with well-marked impunctate line, whole surface , including gena and sides of head with sparse and short, hardly visible appressed hairs and long erected setae including occipital area, ventral side of head with 4-8 moderately long to long erected setae. Scape moderately long, 1.2-1.3 times as long as width of head, at apex twice wider than in base, its surface diffusely to distinctly microreticulate, shiny, with short and sparse appressed pubescence, without decumbent hairs or erected setae; base of scapus without horizontal extension. Funicular segments elongate, thin, first segment 2.8 times as long as wide and 1.7-1.8 times as long as second segment, third segment distinctly longer than second, the rest of funicular segments distinctly longer than broad. Eyes moderately big, almost round, 0.23 length of head. Mandibles stout, microreticulate and elongate punctate, surface shiny. Mesosoma. Moderately elongate, 1.9-2.1 times as long as wide, dorsally and laterally with strong microsculpture, surface in Greek populations appears opalescent dull, in populations from Aegean Turkey the microreticulation is also very distinct but background is lass opalescent and size of mesosoma often appears slightly shiny. In lateral view dorsum with distinct mesonotal groove, propodeum saddle-shaped with flat dorsum and truncate posterior margin, posterior face distinctly excavate with well-marked but not protruding posterad dorsal angles . Surface of mesosoma with short and scarce depressed to decumbent hairs, whole dorsum with numerous moderately long to long erected setae, the longest with length to 0.254. Waist and gaster. Petiolar scale thin, broad in anterior view, PI > 1.80, with convex anterior and flat posterior face, apex rounded; anterior and posterior surface microreticulate, sculpture tends to form transverse striation, without pubescence, apical crest with 6-10 very long erected setae. Gaster shorter than mesosoma, tergites with strong microreticulation, surface opalescent dull, covered with moderately long but scarce appressed to decumbent hairs; each tergite with numerous, very long erected setae. Legs. Moderately elongate, hind femora shorter than mesosoma, surface of legs covered with short and sparse appressed hairs, inner margin of hind tibiae with row of 1-3 thorns. Ventral surface of fore femora with 5-6 long erected setae. Major worker: Large, HL: 1.910-2.030 (mean 1.965); HW: 1.864-2.064 (mean 1.981); SL: 1.444-1.556 (mean 1.508); EL: 0.349-0.428 (mean 0.392); ML: 2.37-2.54; MW: 1.27-1.37. Body color and sculpture as in minor workers but antennae and legs usually darker, dark brown to black and apex of tibiae brown, and tarsi as dark colored as tibiae. Head stouter, approximately as long as wide, sides of head softly convex, posterior margin often straight. Clypeus in the middle with indistinctly marked emargination. Scapus shorter, 0.7-0.8 times as long as width of head. Eyes relatively smaller, 0.2 times as long of head. Setation on head and whole dorsum more numerous than in minor workers, petiolar crest with 12-16 very long setae. Ventral surface of fore femora with 10-12 long standing setae.

Type Material

Syntypes: Lesbos, Greece, 2 workers: Presqu'ile d'Aivaly, pres Mitylène, dans bois, Coll. A. Forel. Antweb: CASENT0910435 and CASENT0910436. Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève

Taxonomic Notes

Camponotus kiesenwetteri angustatus: The taxon has been described from Samos. There are no types in the Forel collection in Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève and the original description does not allow an identification to the species level (Seifert, 2019).

References

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