Crematogaster laestrygon

Crematogaster laestrygon
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Crematogaster
Species:	C. laestrygon
Binomial name
Crematogaster laestrygon Emery, 1869 Specimen Labels
Subspecies
Crematogaster laestrygon airensis Santschi, 1937 Crematogaster laestrygon atlantis Santschi, 1937 Crematogaster laestrygon canariensis Barquin, 1981 Crematogaster laestrygon diminuta Santschi, 1910 Crematogaster laestrygon granulata Santschi, 1910 Crematogaster laestrygon maura Forel, 1909 Crematogaster laestrygon submaura Lomnicki, 1925 Crematogaster laestrygon surcoufi Santschi, 1937 Crematogaster laestrygon theryi Santschi, 1921 Crematogaster laestrygon vivax Santschi, 1937
Synonyms
Crematogaster laestrygon vaucheri Emery, 1926

This species was the only ant found right at the peak of Arabia's highest mountain, Djebel an-Nabi Shuaib, at 3750 m (Collingwood and Agosti 1996)

Identification

Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - This highland species varies in colour from totally dark to various shades of grey sometimes with a reddish tinge but can always be recognised by the strongly developed mesonotal keel and the very short dentate propodeal spines.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Arabian Crematogaster
• Key to Iranian Crematogaster species
• Key to West European Crematogaster species

Distribution

Sharaf et al. (2019): This species is originally described from Italy and widespread in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East (Borowiec 2014; Guénard et al. 2017; Janicki et al. 2017). The Arabian records are from the KSA and Yemen (Borowiec 2014; Collingwood 1985, Collingwood and Agosti 1996).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 40.090833° to 14.704167°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia, Yemen.
Palaearctic Region: Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Georgia, Iberian Peninsula, Malta, Morocco, Spain, Türkiye.

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.

• laestrygon. Crematogaster laestrygon Emery, 1869a: 135 (w.) ITALY (Sicily) (attributed to Haliday).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Italy: Sicily, sea coast from Catina to Pachynum promontory (= Cape Passaro) (A.H. Haliday ?), and Monti Rossi, Mt Etna (A.H. Haliday ?).
  • Type-depository: MSNG.
  • [Misspelled as laestrigon by De Stefani, 1889: 145, Santschi, 1910a: 43, Karavaiev, 1927b: 104, and others.]
  • De Stefani, 1889: 145 (q.); Baroni Urbani, 1964b: 43 (q.).
  • Combination in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 142;
  • combination in C. (Crematogaster): Bolton, 1995b: 166.
  • Subspecies of scutellaris: Emery & Forel, 1879: 464; Emery, 1881b: 535; André, 1883b: 393; De Stefani, 1889: 145.
  • Subspecies of schmidti: Emery, 1891b: 15; Dalla Torre, 1893: 85; Emery, 1893c: 82.
  • Subspecies of auberti: Forel, 1894d: 25; Forel, 1902a: 154; Ruzsky, 1902d: 31; Forel, 1904c: 5; Forel, 1905b: 174; Ruzsky, 1905b: 495; Forel, 1911d: 341 (in text); Karavaiev, 1912a: 11; Emery, 1912e: 658; Emery, 1916b: 156; Stitz, 1917: 341; Santschi, 1921d: 70; Emery, 1922e: 142; Karavaiev, 1927b: 104; Kutter, 1927: 99; Santschi, 1929e: 148; Santschi, 1934f: 167.
  • Status as species: Emery, 1878b: 59; Emery, 1880: 398; André, 1881b: 77; Forel, 1909c: 104; Santschi, 1910a: 43; Santschi, 1915a: 59; Emery, 1926: 2; Wheeler, W.M. 1927g: 106; Grandi, 1935: 100; Santschi, 1936c: 201; Santschi, 1937e: 305; Santschi, 1939d: 73; Finzi, 1940: 160; Bernard, 1945: 133; Bernard, 1956b: 258; Ceballos, 1956: 303; Baroni Urbani, 1964b: 43; Cagniant, 1964: 88; Cagniant, 1968a: 143; Collingwood & Yarrow, 1969: 66; Cagniant, 1970a: 417; Baroni Urbani, 1971c: 78; Baroni Urbani, 1976: 211; Aktaç, 1977: 121; Collingwood, 1978: 82 (in key); Collingwood, 1985: 262; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 54; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 272 (in key); Hohmann, et al. 1993: 148; Bolton, 1995b: 155; Mei, 1995: 762; Poldi, et al. 1995: 4; Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 331; Espadaler, 1997b: 29; Cagniant, 2005: 11; Cagniant, 2006a: 198; Petrov, 2006: 93 (in key); Karaman, M.G. 2008: 20 (in key); Gratiashvili & Barjadze, 2008: 138; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 18; Borowiec, L. 2014: 66 (see note in bibliography); Lebas, et al. 2016: 270; Sharaf, Aldawood & Hita Garcia, 2019: 64.
  • Senior synonym of vaucheri: Collingwood, 1978: 69; Bolton, 1995b: 155; Sharaf, Aldawood & Hita Garcia, 2019: 64.
  • Distribution: Algeria, Egypt, Georgia, Italy (+ Sicily), Libya, Malta, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Spain (+ Balearics, Canary Is), Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen.
  • Current subspecies: nominal plus airensis, atlantis, canariensis, diminuta, granulata, maura, submaura, surcoufi, theryi, vivax.
• vaucheri. Crematogaster laestrygon subsp. vaucheri Emery, 1926: 2.
  • Type-material: holotype (?) worker.
  • [Note: no indication of number of specimens is given.]
  • Type-locality: Morocco: Mazagan (Vaucher).
  • Type-depository: NHMB.
  • [First available use of Crematogaster auberti st. laestrygon var. vaucheri Santschi, 1921d: 71 (w.) MOROCCO; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]
  • Subspecies of laestrygon: Santschi, 1937e: 308; Ceballos, 1956: 303.
  • Junior synonym of laestrygon: Collingwood, 1978: 69; Bolton, 1995b: 165; Sharaf, Aldawood & Hita Garcia, 2019: 64.

Taxonomic Notes

Sharaf et al. (2019): This is a good example of a Crematogaster species with a complex and uncertain taxonomic situation. It is relatively widespread in the Mediterranean and Middle East and currently has nine subspecies. It is doubtful that they are conspecific and it is possible that this is a species complex.

References

• Abdi-Hamecha, L., Barech, G., Khaldi, M., Sadoudi, D. A.-A., Salem, S., Zazgad, I., Cagniant, H. 2021. Diversité des fourmis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) dans la forêt de Yakouren (Algérie) : Estimation de la richesse, biogéographie et taxonomie. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 128(1), 61-72 (doi:10.35929/rsz.0035).
• André, E. 1883b. Les fourmis. [concl.]. Pp. 345-404 in: André, Edm. 1881-1886. Species des Hyménoptères d'Europe et d'Algérie. Tome Deuxième. Beaune: Edmond André, 919 + 48 pp. (page 393, Variety/subspecies of scutellaris)
• Baroni Urbani, C. 1964b. Studi sulla mirmecofauna d'Italia. II. Formiche di Sicilia. Atti Accad. Gioenia Sci. Nat. (6) 16: 25-66 (page 43, queen described)
• Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Catarineu, C., Barberá, G.G., Reyes-López, J.L. 2018. Zoogeography of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of southeastern Iberian Peninsula. Sociobiology 65, 383-396 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v65i3.2822).
• Collingwood, C. A. 1978. A provisional list of Iberian Formicidae with a key to the worker caste (Hym. Aculeata). EOS. Rev. Esp. Entomol. 52: 65-95 (page 69, Senior synonym of vaucheri)
• Collingwood, C. A. and D. Agosti. 1996. Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (part 2). Fauna Saudi Arabia. 15:300-385.
• De Stefani, T. 1889. Miscellanea imenotterologica sicula. Nat. Sicil. 8: 140-145 (page 145, queen described)
• Emery, C. 1869a. Formicidarum italicorum species duae novae. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 1: 135-137 (page 135, worker described)
• Emery, C. 1891c. Exploration scientifique de la Tunisie. Zoologie. - Hyménoptères. Révision critique des fourmis de la Tunisie. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, iii + 21 pp. (page 15, Variety/subspecies of schmidti)
• Emery, C. 1922c. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [part]. Genera Insectorum 174B: 95-206 (page 142, Combination in C. (Acrocoelia), Variety/subspecies of auberti)
• Emery, C. 1926. Ultime note mirmecologiche. Boll. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 58: 1-9 (page 2, Status as species)
• Emery, C.; Forel, A. 1879. Catalogue des Formicides d'Europe. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 5: 441-481 (page 464, Variety/subspecies of scutellaris)
• Forel, A. 1902a. Les fourmis du Sahara algérien récoltées par M. le Professeur A. Lameere et le Dr. A. Diehl. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 46: 147-158 (page 154, Variety/subspecies of auberti)
• Forel, A. 1909c. Fourmis d'Espagne récoltées par M. O. Vogt et Mme Cécile Vogt, Docteurs en médecine. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 53: 103-106 (page 104, Status as species)
• Kiran, K., Karaman, C. 2020. Additions to the ant fauna of Turkey (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Zoosystema 42(18), 285-329 (doi:10.5252/zoosystema2020v42a18).
• Mohseni, M.R., Mikheyev, A. 2023. A new species of Crematogaster Lund, 1831 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran with an identification key to Iranian Crematogaster species. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity 16(4), 484–492 (doi:10.1016/j.japb.2023.08.005).
• Ruzsky, M. 1902d. Material on the ant fauna of the Caucasus and the Crimea. Protok. Obshch. Estestvoispyt. Imp. Kazan. Univ. 206(su suppl: 1-33 (page 31, Variety/subspecies of auberti)
• Santschi, F. 1915a. Nouvelles fourmis d'Algérie, Tunisie et Syrie. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Afr. Nord 6: 54-63 (page 59, Status as species)
• Santschi, F. 1921d. Formicides nouveaux de l'Afrique du Nord. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Afr. Nord 12: 68-77 (page 70, Variety/subspecies of auberti)
• Santschi, F. 1934f. Fourmis du Sahara central. Mém. Soc. Hist. Nat. Afr. Nord 4: 165-177 (page 167, Variety/subspecies of auberti)
• Santschi, F. 1936c. Liste et descriptions de fourmis du Maroc. Bull. Soc. Sci. Nat. Maroc 16: 198-210 (page 201, Status as species)
• Sharaf, M.R., Aldawood, A.S., Hita Garcia, F. 2019. Review of the Arabian Crematogaster Lund (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), synoptic list, distribution, and description of two new species from Oman and Saudi Arabia. ZooKeys 898: 27–81 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.898.37531).
• Stitz, H. 1917. Ameisen aus dem westlichen Mittelmeergebiet und von den Kanarischen Inseln. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 8: 333-353 (page 341, Variety/subspecies of auberti)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1927g. The ants of the Canary Islands. Proc. Am. Acad. Arts Sci. 62: 93-120 (page 106, Status as species)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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