Temnothorax muellerianus
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| Temnothorax muellerianus | |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Crematogastrini |
| Genus: | Temnothorax |
| Species: | T. muellerianus |
| Binomial name | |
| Temnothorax muellerianus (Finzi, 1922)
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| Synonyms | |
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This species is a social parasite of other Temnothorax species, and on Crete it has been collected from the nests of Temnothorax exilis. When uncovered both gyne and workers were hiding in soil while host species workers were trying to hide pupae and eggs. Infected nests were located in very dry and sunny localities (Salata, Borowiec & Trichas, 2018).
| At a Glance | • Slave-maker |
Contents
Identification
A member of the Temnothorax lerianus group.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Iberian Peninsula, Italy (type locality), Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.
Distribution based on AntMaps
Distribution based on AntWeb specimens
Check data from AntWeb
Biology
Fungi
This species is a host for the fungus Myrmicinosporidium durum (a pathogen) (Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's New General Catalogue, a catalogue of the world's ants.
- muellerianus. Leptothorax (Temnothorax) muellerianus Finzi, 1922: 118, fig. 1 (w.) ITALY. Combination in Chalepoxenus: Finzi, 1924b: 123; in Temnothorax: Ward et al., 2014: 15. Senior synonym of gribodoi: Kutter, 1973d: 276; provisional senior synonym of insubricus, siciliensis: Buschinger, Erhardt, Fischer & Ofer, 1988: 398.
- gribodoi. Chalepoxenus gribodoi Menozzi, 1923a: 257, figs (w.q.) ITALY. [Spelled gridoboi p. 257, corrected to gribodoi p. 258.] Menozzi, 1925a: 21 (m.). Junior synonym of muellerianus: Kutter, 1973d: 276.
- insubricus. Chalepoxenus insubricus Kutter, 1950b: 337, figs. (m.) SWITZERLAND. Kutter, 1973d: 279 (w.q.). See also: Kutter, 1977c: 136. Provisional junior synonym of muellerianus: Buschinger, Erhardt, Fischer & Ofer, 1988: 398.
- siciliensis. Chalepoxenus siciliensis Kutter, 1973d: 278, figs. 1, 3, 4, 6 (w.q.) ITALY (Sicily). Provisional junior synonym of muellerianus: Buschinger, Erhardt, Fischer & Ofer, 1988: 398.
Description
Karyotype
- n = 12 (Croatia; France; Greece; Italy) (Fischer, 1987) (as Chalepoxenus siciliensis).
References
- Borowiec, L. & Salata, S. 2013. Ants of Greece – additions and corrections (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 24, 335-401.
- Buschinger, A. 2009. Social parasitism among ants: a review (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 219-235.
- Buschinger, A.; Ehrhardt, W.; Fischer, K.; Ofer, J. 1988. The slave-making ant genus Chalepoxenus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). I. Review of literature, range, slave species. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Ökol. Geogr. Tiere 115: 383-401 (page 398, Provisional senior synonym of insubricus and sicilinesis)
- 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).
- Finzi, B. 1922a [1921]. Primo contributo alla conoscenza della fauna mirmecologica della Venezia Giulia. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 53: 118-120 (page 118, fig. 1 worker described)
- Finzi, B. 1924b. Secondo contributo alla conoscenza della fauna mirmecologica della Venezia Giulia. Boll. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 56: 120-123 (page 123, Combination in Chalepoxenus)
- Kutter, H. 1973e. Zur Taxonomie der Gattung Chalepoxenus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae). Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 46: 269-280 (page 276, Senior synonym of gribodoi)
- Salata, S., Borowiec, L., Trichas, A. 2018. Taxonomic revision of the Cretan fauna of the genus Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with notes on the endemism of ant fauna of Crete. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 68(4): 769-808 (DOI 10.3161/00034541ANZ2018.68.4.004).
- Ward, P.S., Brady, S.G., Fisher, B.L. & Schultz, T.R. 2014. The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology, DOI: 10.1111/syen.12090.
