Temnothorax kraussei

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Temnothorax kraussei
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Temnothorax
Species: T. kraussei
Binomial name
Temnothorax kraussei
(Emery, 1915)

Myrmoxenus kraussei casent0281811 p 1 high.jpg

Myrmoxenus kraussei casent0281811 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Synonyms

Temnothorax kraussei is a social parasite of Temnothorax species. On Crete it has been collected in nests of Temnothorax recedens (Salata, Borowiec & Trichas, 2018).

At a Glance • Dulotic  

Identification

Salata et al. (2018) - A social parasite with the following characteristic features: 11 segmented antennae, presence of lobe-like appendages on ventral surfaces of petiole and postpetiole, dull body surface, and reduced teeth.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 46.233333° to 33.466667°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Croatia, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Iberian Peninsula, Italy (type locality), Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Türkiye.

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

Temnothorax (= Myrmoxenus) kraussei is a slavemaking ant with Temnothorax recedens as slaves. As in all species of the former genus Myrmoxenus the mated young queen penetrates a nest of the host species where she throttles the host queen and is eventually accepted by the adult workers of the colony.

Temnothorax kraussei.jpg

Most colonies of T. kraussei comprise only a small number of slavemaker workers (often less than five, rarely up to a dozen). One population on the island of Crete (Greece) has been found to be completely workerless. Colonies with a small number of kraussei workers nevertheless may try to conduct slave raids on neighboring host species colonies (cf. Temnothorax ravouxi).

Life History Traits

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

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Myrmoxenus kraussei casent0904776 h 1 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0904776 d 1 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0904776 p 1 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0904776 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Myrmoxenus krausseiWorker. Specimen code casent0904776. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Myrmoxenus kraussei casent0901766 p 1 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0901766 p 2 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0901766 p 3 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0901766 d 1 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0901766 h 1 high.jpgMyrmoxenus kraussei casent0901766 l 1 high.jpg
Male (alate). Specimen code casent0901766. Photographer Ryan Perry, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

  • kraussei. Epimyrma kraussei Emery, 1915a: 262, pl. 4, figs. 14-16 (w.q.) ITALY (Sardinia). Combination in Temnothorax: Ward et al., 2014: 15. Senior synonym of foreli, vandeli: Buschinger, Fischer, et al. 1987: 272. See also: Menozzi, 1931c: 39; Kutter, 1973e: 281.
  • foreli. Epimyrma foreli Menozzi, 1921: 29, fig. 2 (w.q.) ITALY. Junior synonym of kraussei: Buschinger, Fischer, et al. 1987: 272. See also: Menozzi, 1931c: 45; Kutter, 1973e: 281.
  • vandeli. Epimyrma vandeli Santschi, 1927b: 126 (q.m.) FRANCE. [m. described but not named: Vandel, 1926: 198.] See also: Menozzi, 1931c: 47; Kutter, 1973e: 281. Junior synonym of kraussei: Buschinger, Fischer, et al. 1987: 272.

Description

Type Material

Salata et al. (2018) - Syntype (w.) (CASENT0904776): Epimyrma kraussei Emery; Typus; Sardagna, Sorgono, 14.III.913; Museo Civico, di Genova; Collezione, Emery; ANTWEB, CASENT0904776 (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa) [image examined].

Karyotype

  • n = 10 (France, Italy, Spain) (Fischer, 1987) (as Epimyrma kraussei).

The identical karyotypes of five species of the former genus Myrmoxenus together with morphological features and corresponding parasitic life history indicate monophyly of the group.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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  • Antarea (at www.antarea.fr on June 11th 2017)
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