Key to Lasius of Crete

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online

This worker key is based on: Salata, S., Borowiec, L. 2018. A new species of the ant genus Lasius Fabricius, 1804 from Crete (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 789: 139–159 (DOI 10.3897/zookeys.789.27022).

You may also be interested in

1

  • Maxillary palps short, not reaching midpoint between mouth and occipital foramen, body yellow to orange . . . . . Lasius myops
Lasius myops casent0280455 h 1 high.jpg
Lasius myops casent0280455 p 1 high.jpg
  • Maxillary palps long, distinctly reaching beyond midpoint between mouth and occipital foramen, body brown to black or bicoloured . . . . . 2

2

return to [[#1 |couplet #1]

  • Scape, genae and hind tibiae only with perfectly adpressed pubescence, without setae, occipital margin of head usually with 8 erect setae at most . . . . . Lasius lasioides
Lasius lasioides casent0906077 h 1 high.jpg
Lasius lasioides casent0906077 p 1 high.jpg
  • Scape, genae and hind tibiae often with occasional setae, pubescence not perfectly adpressed, occipital margin of head with more than 8 erect setae . . . . . 3

3

return to couplet #2

  • Scape with few (>5) erect setae, body bicoloured, hind tibiae with numerous erect setae, mesosoma brighter than head and gaster . . . . . Lasius illyricus
Lasius illyricus casent0914255 h 1 high.jpg
Lasius illyricus casent0914255 p 1 high.jpg
  • Scape without or with maximum 5 erect setae, hind tibiae without or with a few erect setae, body uniformly coloured or head and mesosoma uniformly coloured, brighter than gaster . . . . . 4

4

return to couplet #3

  • Clypeus with dense pubescence, average distance between setae 3.5 times shorter than their length . . . . . Lasius bombycina
Lasius bombycina F10.jpg
Lasius bombycina F11.jpg
  • Clypeus with sparse pubescence, average distance between setae equal or longer than a half of their length . . . . . 5

5

return to couplet #4

  • Workers small, ML 0.726–0.827 mm, mesosoma with very shallow metanotal groove, apical part of scape with >5 suberect to erect setae . . . . . Lasius tapinomoides
Lasius tapinomoides F3.jpg
Lasius tapinomoides F1.jpg
  • Workers larger, ML 0.935–1.18 mm, metanotal groove distinct, apical part of scape without or with <5 suberect to erect setae . . . . . 6

6

return to couplet #5

  • Metanotal groove relatively shallow, propodeal dorsum flattened, hind tibia usually without suberect setae, number of mandibular dents < 7.7 . . . . . Lasius turcicus
Lasius turcicus casent0906080 h 1 high.jpg
Lasius turcicus casent0906080 p 1 high.jpg
  • Metanotal groove deeper and sharp, propodeal dorsum convex, hind tibia with few suberect setae, number of mandibular dents >7.7 . . . . . Lasius psammophilus
Lasius psammophilus casent0172733 head 1.jpg
Lasius psammophilus casent0172733 profile 1.jpg