Lepisiota caucasica

Lepisiota caucasica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Plagiolepidini
Genus:	Lepisiota
Species:	L. caucasica
Binomial name
	Lepisiota caucasica; (Santschi, 1917)

Records of this species from Greece and Serbia need confirmation, and the group of bicoloured Lepisiota species needs revision (Borowiec, 2014).

Identification

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Azerbaijan, Türkiye.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

caucasica. Acantholepis frauenfeldi var. caucasica Santschi, 1917d: 43 (w.) CAUCASUS.
- Combination in Lepisiota: Bolton, 1995b: 227.
- Subspecies of frauenfeldi: Emery, 1925b: 25.
- Junior synonym of frauenfeldi: Arakelian, 1994: 81.
- Status as species: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 281 (in key); Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 506; Borowiec, L. 2014: 92.

Taxonomic Notes

Borowiec and Salata (2022) - Legakis, 2011 noted Lepisiota caucasica from the Aegean Islands, Ionian Islands, Macedonia, Peloponnese and Sterea Ellas but due to taxonomic and nomenclatorial chaos in Lepisiota these records are doubtful. Lepisiota caucasica Santschi, 1917 was described from Armenia and its status remains uncertain. The lack of recent revision of this genus and a high number of valid infraspecific taxa described within the L. frauenfeldi complex do not allow us to state whether populations collected from in Greece and Aegean Turkey are the true L. caucasica or if they represent another, yet undescribed species. (See the Key to Lepisiota of Greece for additional information about the Greece and Aegean Turkey forms of L. caucasica.)

Description

References