Temnothorax muellerianus

Temnothorax muellerianus
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Temnothorax
Species group:	palearctic
Species:	T. muellerianus
Binomial name
Temnothorax muellerianus (Finzi, 1922) Specimen Label
Synonyms
Chalepoxenus gribodoi Menozzi, 1923 Chalepoxenus insubricus Kutter, 1950 Chalepoxenus siciliensis Kutter, 1973

This species is a slave-maker of other Temnothorax species. When a nest on Crete was uncovered by Salata, Borowiec & Trichas (2018) 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. Also on Crete, one queenright colony of Temnothorax muellerianus with Temnothorax semiruber as slaves (Buschinger & Douwes, 1990). It is remarkable that Temnothorax semiruber workers are larger than the workers of the slavemaker Temnothorax muellerianus. This contrasts with all other records of this species with other, smaller Temnothorax species.

At a Glance

• Dulotic  • Tandem running

 

Identification

Prebus (2017) - A member of the Palearctic clade.

Salata et al. (2018) – The social parasite Temnothorax muellerianus is characterized by the presence of a tooth-like projections on the ventral surfaces of the petiole and postpetiole, a deep metanotal groove, and reduced body striation.

Keys including this Species

• Key to east Mediterranean Temnothorax muellerianus group
• Key to the Temnothorax of Crete

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 45.533333° to 31.166667°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

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

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.

Biology

This species is a slave-maker of the following species:

• Temnothorax affinis (rare host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax exilis (Beibl et al., 2007; Salata, Borowiec & Trichas, 2018; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax flavicornis (rare host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax interruptus (Beibl et al., 2007; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax luteus (Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax marae (Italy; Schifani et al., 2022; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax nigriceps (common host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax racovitzai (Beibl et al., 2007; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax recedens (common host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax rottenbergii (Beibl et al., 2007; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax semiruber (Salata, Borowiec & Trichas, 2018; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax tuberum (rare host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
• Temnothorax unifasciatus (most common host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Blatrix & Sermage, 2005; Buschinger et al., 1988; Seifert, 2018; de la Mora et al., 2021)

Associations with other Organisms

Fungi

This species is a host for the fungus Myrmicinosporidium durum (a pathogen) in Italy (Sanchez-Peña et al., 1993; Buschinger et al., 2004; Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).

Life History Traits

• Queen number: monogynous (Ehrhardt, 1982; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)

Nomenclature

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

• 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

• Beibl, J., Buschinger, A., Foitzik, S., Heinze, J. 2007. Phylogeny and phylogeography of the Mediterranean species of the parasitic ant genus Chalepoxenus and its Temnothorax hosts. Insectes Sociaux 54, 189-199 (doi:10.1007/s00040-007-0932-y).
• Beibl, J., Stuart, R.J., Heinze, J., Foitzik, S. 2005. Six origins of slavery in formicoxenine ants. Insectes Sociaux 52, 291–297 (doi:10.1007/s00040-005-0808-y).
• Borowiec, L. & Salata, S. 2013. Ants of Greece – additions and corrections (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 24, 335-401.
• Buschinger, A. 1987. Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter 1950 and other parasitic ants found in the Pyrenees (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Spixiana 10, 81-83.
• Buschinger, A. 2009. Social parasitism among ants: a review (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 219-235.
• Buschinger, A., Douwes, P. 1993. Socially parasitic ants of Greece. - 5e Congrès International sur la Zoogéographie et l’Écologie de la Grèce et des régions avoisinantes - Iraklion, Avril 1990. Biologia Gallo-hellenica 20, 183-189.
• Buschinger, A., Ehrhardt, W., Fischer, K., Ofer, J. 1988. The slave-making ant genus Chalepoxenus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). I. Review of literature, range, slave species. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 115: 383-401. (page 398, Provisional senior synonym of insubricus and sicilinesis)
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