Crematogaster inermis

Crematogaster inermis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Crematogaster
Species:	C. inermis
Binomial name
	Crematogaster inermis; Mayr, 1862
Subspecies
	Crematogaster inermis aphrodite Santschi, 1937; Crematogaster inermis armatula Emery, 1926; Crematogaster inermis lucida Forel, 1890;

At a Glance

• Limited invasive

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Sharaf et al. (2019): Crematogaster inermis was originally described from Egypt and is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula through North Africa to the Middle East (Borowiec 2014; Guénard et al. 2017; Janicki et al. 2017). For the Arabian Peninsula, this species was only recorded from Yemen (Collingwood and van Harten 2001; Borowiec 20114). Knowing that it is widespread in the Mediterranean and Middle East and the only record for the Arabian Peninsula is from Yemen, we think that it is likely that it is also present in the KSA. Futher sampling is necessary to verify this.

Borowiec & Salata (2020): This taxon was recorded from Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Morocco but some of these records need confirmation. Additionally, records from Jordan need to be confirmation.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 35.674444° to 13.083333°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Algeria, Egypt (type locality), Iran, Israel, Spain.

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 associated with the aphids Acyrthosiphon gossypii, Acyrthosiphon pisum, Aphis craccivora, Aphis gossypii, Aphis pseudocardui, Brachycaudus tragopogonis, Callaphis juglandis and Chaitophorus israeliticus (Saddiqui et al., 2019 and included references).

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb


Syntype of Crematogaster inermis lucida. Worker. Specimen code casent0908481. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.


Syntype of Crematogaster inermis aphrodite. Worker. Specimen code casent0912687. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMB, Basel, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

inermis. Crematogaster inermis Mayr, 1862: 766 (w.) EGYPT.
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
- Type-locality: Egypt: Sinai Peninsula (R. von Frauenfeld).
- Type-depository: NMHW.
- [Misspelled as niermis by Ceballos, 1956: 303.]
- André, 1883b: 395 (q.); Santschi, 1937e: 296 (q.); Santschi, 1938a: 38 (m.).
- Combination in C. (Crematogaster): Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 840;
- combination in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 143;
- combination in C. (Crematogaster): Bolton, 1995b: 166.
- Status as species: Mayr, 1863: 404; Roger, 1863b: 37; Mayr, 1877: 20 (in list); Mayr, 1879: 682 (in key); André, 1881b: 77; André, 1883b: 394 (in key); Forel, 1891b: 195 (redescription); Emery, 1891b: 15; Dalla Torre, 1893: 82; Mayr, 1895: 137; Forel, 1902a: 154; Forel, 1907a: 22; Santschi, 1908: 518; Karavaiev, 1911: 8; Emery, 1912e: 663; Wheeler, W.M. & Mann, 1916: 170; Arnold, 1920a: 539; Emery, 1922e: 143; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 840; Emery, 1926: 2; Santschi, 1929e: 149; Menozzi, 1929e: 125; Menozzi, 1933b: 58; Finzi, 1936: 173; Santschi, 1937e: 296; Santschi, 1938a: 38; Kugler, J. 1988: 258; Bolton, 1995b: 154; Cagniant, 2005: 10; Cagniant, 2006a: 198; Paknia, et al. 2008: 154; Vonshak, et al. 2009: 42; Borowiec, L. 2014: 66 (see note in bibliography); Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 135; Sharaf, Aldawood & Hita Garcia, 2019: 58; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2020: 7.
- Distribution: Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Yemen.
- Current subspecies: nominal plus aphrodite, armatula, lucida.

Taxonomic Notes

Recent material suggests that this is a group of cryptic taxa. Borowiec & Salata (2020) compared their material of this group from Jordan with type of Crematogaster warburgi and they appear to be conspecific.

Description

References

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 395, queen described)
Blaimer, B.B., Fisher, B.L. 2013. Taxonomy of the Crematogaster degeeri-species-assemblage in the Malagasy region (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 51: 1-64 (doi:10.5852/ejt.2013.51).
Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Borowiec, L., Salata, S. 2020. Review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Jordan. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, Entomology 29 (online 2): 1-26 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.3733156).
Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
Casiraghi, A., Espadaler, X., Pérez Hidalgo, N., Gómez, K. 2020. Two additions to the Iberian myrmecofauna: Crematogaster inermis Mayr, 1862, a newly established, tree-nesting species, and Trichomyrmex mayri (Forel, 1902), an emerging exotic species temporarily nesting in Spain (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 78, 57–68 (doi:10.3897/jhr.78.51858).
Demetriou, J., Georgiadis, C., Ralli, V., Salata, S., Borowiec, L. 2024. Setting the record straight: a re-examination of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Cyprus deposited at the Museum of Zoology of Athens. Zootaxa 55231, 49–69 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5523.1.3).
Emery, C. 1922c. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [part]. Genera Insectorum 174B: 95-206 (page 143, Combination in C. (Acrocoelia))
Mayr, G. 1862. Myrmecologische Studien. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 12: 649-776 (page 766, worker described)
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).
Rasheed, M.T., Bodlah, I., Fareen, A.G., Wachkoo, A.A., Huang, X., Akbar, S.A. 2019. A checklist of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Pakistan. Sociobiology 66(3), 426-439 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v66i3.4330).
Santschi, F. 1937e. Contribution à l'étude des Crematogaster paléarctiques. Mém. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 5: 295-317 (page 296, queen described)
Santschi, F. 1938a [1937]. Quelques nouvelles fourmis d'Egypte. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Egypte 21: 28-44 (page 38, male described)
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).
Sharaf, M.R., Bolton, B., Nasser, M.G., Wetterer, J.K., Aldawood, A.S. 2024. A new species and a new record of the ant genus Crematogaster Lund, 1831 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Yemen. Annales Zoologici 74(4), 709-716 (doi:10.3161/00034541anz2024.74.4.014).
Siddiqui, J. A., Li, J., Zou, X., Bodlah, I., Huang, X. 2019. Meta-analysis of the global diversity and spatial patterns of aphid-ant mutualistic relationships. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 17: 5471-5524 (doi:10.15666/aeer/1703_54715524).
Stukalyuk, S., Radchenko, A., Akhmedov, A., Reshetov, A., Netsvetov, M. 2021. Acquisition of invasive traits in ant, Crematogaster subdentata Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in urban environments. Serangga 26: 1-29.
Stukalyuk, S.V., Kozyr, M.S., Netsvetov, M.V., Zhuravlev, V.V. 2020. Effect of the invasive phanerophytes and associated aphids on the ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) assemblages. Halteres 11: 56-89 (doi:10.5281/ZENODO.4192900).
Wheeler, W. M. 1922j. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 45: 711-1004 (page 840, Combination in C. (Crematogaster))

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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Alfieri, A.. "Contribution à l'étude de la faune myrmécologique de l'Egypte." Bulletin de la Société Entomologique d'Egypte 15 (1931): 42-48.
Bakr R. F. A., H. H. Fadl, R. M. Badawy, and M. R. Sharaf. 2007. Myrmecophile insects associated with some ant species (Hymenoptera : Formicidae )in Egypt. The second international conference of economic entomology (Entomological Society of Egypt) ,Cairo, Egypt, 8-11 December, (1): 205-233.
Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Chemala A., M. Benhamacha, D. M. Ould el Hadj, F. Marniche, and S. Daoudi. 2017. A preliminary list of the ant fauna in Northeastern Sahara of Algeria (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 64(2): 146-154.
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Santschi, F. 1938. Mission Robert Ph. Dollfus en Égypte. XV. Hymenoptera: Formicidae. Mémoires de l'Institut d'Égypte 37: 253
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Santschi, F.. "Contribution à l'étude des Crematogaster paléarctiques." Mém. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 5 (1937): 295-317.
Santschi, F.. "Fourmis du Maroc, d'Algérie et de Tunisie." Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Bruxelles) 69 (1929): 138-165.
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