Leptothorax pacis

Leptothorax pacis
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Leptothorax
Species:	L. pacis
Binomial name
Leptothorax pacis (Kutter, 1945) Specimen labels

This species is a workerless inquiline. Queens live in the nest of a different ant species, have no workers and are entirely dependent on their hosts for food. The queens produce eggs that are cared for and raised to maturity by the host workers.

At a Glance

• Workerless Inquiline

 

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Switzerland (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Biology

An inquiline ant living within the nests of their host species Leptothorax acervorum, in sticks, pieces of bark and tree stumps in coniferous forests. The species is workerless and apparently host-queen tolerant.

The alate gynes practice female calling outside their natal nest. Mating takes place on the ground, often on top of the nest.

The three species L. pacis, Leptothorax kutteri and Leptothorax goesswaldi all are workerless, permanent parasites of Leptothorax acervorum.

Castes

Queen

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  Head view

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  Side view

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  Top view

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  Specimen labels

Male

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Nomenclature

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

• pacis. Doronomyrmex pacis Kutter, 1945: 486, 3 figs. (q.) SWITZERLAND. Kutter, 1950c: 348 (m.). Included in Leptothorax: Heinze, 1998: 195 (combination not stated); combination in Leptothorax: Bolton, 2003: 270. See also: Buschinger, 1972: 169; Kutter, 1977c: 146.

Description

Karyotype

• n = 26 (France; Switzerland) (Buschinger & Fischer, 1991; Fischer, 1987) (as Doronomyrmex pacis).

References

• Blatrix R., Lebas C., Wegnez P., Galkowski C., Buschinger A., 2013. New data on the distribution of Leptothorax pacis and L. kutteri, two very rare parasitic ants, and confirmation of the presence of L. gredleri in France (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Revue de l’Association Roussillonnaise d’Entomologie, 22, 85-91.
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 270, Combination in Leptothorax)
• Buschinger, A. 1972a. Kreuzung zweier sozialparasitischer Ameisenarten, Doronymyrmex pacis Kutter und Leptothorax kutteri Buschinger (Hym., Formicidae). Zool. Anz. 189: 169-179 (page 169, see also)
• Buschinger, A.; Ehrhardt, W.; Fischer, K. 1981. Doronomyrmex pacis, Epimyrma stumperi und E. goesswaldi (Hym., Formicidae) neu für Frankreich. Insectes Sociaux 28:67-70. [1981-03]
• Buschinger, A. 2009. Social parasitism among ants: a review (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 219-235.
• Heinze, J. 1998 [1995]. The origin of workerless parasites in Leptothorax (s. str.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche (Camb.) 102: 195-214 (page 195, Included in Leptothorax (combination not stated))
• Kutter, H. 1945a. Ein neue Ameisengattung. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 19: 485-487 (page 486, 3 figs. queen described)
• Kutter, H. 1950c. Über Doronomyrmex und verwandte Ameisen. 2. Mitteilung. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 23: 347-353 (page 348, male described)
• Kutter, H. 1977c. Hymenoptera, Formicidae. Insecta Helv. Fauna 6: 1-298 (page 146, see also)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• AntArea. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://antarea.fr/fourmi/
• Antarea (Personal Communication - Rumsais Blatrix- 27 April 2018)
• Antarea (at www.antarea.fr on June 11th 2017)
• Blatrix R., C. Lebas, C. Galkowski, P. Wegnez, P. Pimenta, and D. Morichon. 2016. Vegetation cover and elevation drive diversity and composition of ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Mediterranean ecosystem. – Myrmecological News 22: 119-127.
• Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Bracko G. 2007. Checklist of the ants of Slovenia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Natura Sloveniae 9: 15-24
• Buschinger A. 1999. Bemerkenswerte ameisenfunde aus Sudtirol (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 3: 1-8.
• Buschinger, A., W. Ehrhardt, and K. Fischer. "Doronomyrmex pacis, Epimyrma stumperi und E. goesswaldi (Hym., Formicidae) neu für Frankreich." Insectes Sociaux 28 (1981): 67-70.
• Casevitz-Weulersse J., and C. Galkowski. 2009. Liste actualisee des Fourmis de France (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 114: 475-510.
• Dubovikoff D. A., and Z. M. Yusupov. 2018. Family Formicidae - Ants. In Belokobylskij S. A. and A. S. Lelej: Annotated catalogue of the Hymenoptera of Russia. Proceedingss of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences 6: 197-210.
• Heinze, J. 1995. The Origin of Workerless Parasites in Leptothorax (S. Str.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche 102 (3-4) :195-214
• Lebas C., C. Galkowski, P. Wegnez, X. Espadaler, and R. Blatrix. 2015. The exceptional diversity of ants on mount Coronat (Pyrénées-Orientales), and Temnothorax gredosi(Hymenoptera, Formicidae) new to France. R.A.R.E., T. XXIV (1): 24 – 33
• Neumeyer R., and B. Seifert. 2005. Commented check list of free living ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) species of Switzerland. Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique Suisse 78: 1-17.
• Seifert B. 1994. Die freilebenden Ameisenarten Deutschlands (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) und Angaben zu deren Taxonomie und Verbreitung. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Naturkundemuseums Görlitz 67(3): 1-44.
• Steiner F. M., S. Schödl, and B. C. Schlick-Steiner. 2002. Liste der Ameisen Österreichs (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Stand Oktober 2002. Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik 3: 17-25.