Lepisiota karawaiewi

Lepisiota karawaiewi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Plagiolepidini
Genus:	Lepisiota
Species:	L. karawaiewi
Binomial name
Lepisiota karawaiewi (Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929) Specimen Labels

This species is limited to Central Asia (Borowiec & Salata, 2013). Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran in a montane area with low rainfall.

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

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Arabian Lepisiota

Distribution

First recorded generally from the Balkan peninsula by Agosti and Collingwood (1987a), then recorded from Aegean Islands and Crete by Legakis (2011) based on unpublished check-lists of ants of Chios prepared by Taylor and Clee in 2008 and of Crete prepared by Collingwood in 1990. Legakis (2011) noted also its occurrence in Ionian Islands and Cyclades. In our opinion all records mentioned above are based on misinterpretations of other taxa of the frauenfeldti-nigra group. The true L. karawaiewi occurs only in Central Asia, further records from Kuwait and United Arab Emirates also need confirmation. (Borowiec & Salata, 2013.)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.
Palaearctic Region: Iran, Kazakhstan (type locality), Kuwait.

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.

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0249850. Photographer Ryan Perry, 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.

• karawaiewi. Acantholepis frauenfeldi subsp. karawaiewi Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929c: 483 (w.q.m.) KAZAKHSTAN. [First available use of Acantholepis frauenfeldi st. melas var. karawaiewi Santschi, 1917d: 44; unavailable name.] Combination in Lepisiota: Bolton, 1995b: 227. Raised to species: Pisarski, 1967: 410; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 57. Junior synonym of semenovi: Dlussky, Soyunov & Zabelin, 1990: 163. Revived from synonymy: Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 366. [Note. This name sometimes misspelled as karawajewi.]

Taxonomic Notes

Taxonomic status of this taxon, as well as many other species of the genus Lepisiota, needs a detailed revision (Borowiec & Salata, 2012).

References

• Agosti, D.; Collingwood, C. A. 1987a. A provisional list of the Balkan ants (Hym. Formicidae) and a key to the worker caste. I. Synonymic list. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 60: 51-62 (page 57, Raised to species)
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 227, Combination in Lepisiota)
• Borowiec, L. & Salata, S. 2013. Ants of Greece – additions and corrections (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 24, 335-401.
• 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. 2012. Ants of Greece – checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 23:461-563.
• Collingwood, C. A.; Agosti, D. 1996. Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (part 2). Fauna Saudi Arab. 15: 300-385
• Dlussky, G. M.; Soyunov, O. S.; Zabelin, S. I. 1990 [1989]. Ants of Turkmenistan. Ashkhabad: Ylym Press, 273 pp. (page 366, Junior synonym of semenovi)
• Khalini-Moghadam, A., Borowiec, L., Nemati, A. 2019. New records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province of Iran with taxonomic comments. Polish Journal of Entomology 88: 163–182 (DOI 10.2478/pjen-2019-0013).
• Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, N. N. 1929c. Die Gattung Acantholepis in Turkestan. Zool. Anz. 82: 477-492 (page 483, worker, queen, male described)
• Legakis, A. 2011. Annotated list of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Greece. Hellenic Zoological Archives 7:1-55.
• Pashaei Rad, S., Taylor, B., Torabi, R., Aram, E., Abolfathi, G., Afshari, R., Borjali, F., Ghatei, M., Hediary, F., Jazini, F., Heidary Kiah, V., Mahmoudi, Z., Safariyan, F., Seiri, M. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 64, 145-159 (doi:10.1080/09397140.2018.1442301).
• Pisarski, B. 1967a. Fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Afghanistan récoltées par M. Dr. K. Lindberg. Ann. Zool. (Warsaw) 24: 375-425 (page 410, Raised to species)
• Salata, S., Borowiec, L., Trichas, A. 2020. Review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Crete, with keys to species determination and zoogeographical remarks. Monographs of the Upper Silesian Museum No 12: 5–296 (doi:10.5281/ZENODO.3738001).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• 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., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
• Collingwood, C. A. 1993. A Comparitive Study of the Ant Fauna of Five Greek Islands. Biologia Gallo-hellenica. 20,1:191-197
• Collingwood, C. A.. "A comparative study of the ant fauna of five Greek islands." Biologia Gallo-Hellenica 20 (1993): 191-197.
• Karavaiev V. 1926. Beiträge zur Ameisenfauna des Kaukasus, nebst einigen Bemerkungen über andere palaearktische Formen. (Schluss). Konowia 5: 187-199.
• Khalili-Moghadam A., L. Borowiec, and A. Nemati. 2019. New records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province of Iran with taxonomic comments. Polish Journal of Entomology 88 (2): 163–182.
• Kuznetsov-Ugamsky N. N. 1929. Die Gattung Acantholepis in Turkestan. Zoologischer Anzeiger 82: 477-492.
• Pashaei Rad S., B. Taylor, R. Torabi, E. Aram, G. Abolfathi, R. Afshari, F. Borjali, M. Ghatei, F. Hediary, F. Jazini, V. Heidary Kiah, Z. Mahmoudi, F. Safariyan, and M. Seiri. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 64(2): 145-159.
• Pisarski B. 1964. Fauna Mrowek Afganistanu. Bibliogr. k. 160-166, Nieoprawiony maszynopis pracy, Praca doktorska. Instytut Zoologiczny PAN, 1964, Bibliogr. p. 160-166
• Pisarski B. 1967. Fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Afghanistan récoltées par M. Dr. K. Lindberg. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 24: 375-425.
• Santschi, F.. "Acantholepis Frauenfeldi Mayr et ses variétés." Bulletin de la Société d' Histoire naturelle de l' Afrique du Nord 8 (1917): 42-48.