Leptothorax gredleri

Leptothorax gredleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Leptothorax
Species:	L. gredleri
Binomial name
Leptothorax gredleri Mayr, 1855 Specimen Labels

Alate queens of this species practice female calling, i.e., they leave their natal nest, climb onto vegetation, and release pheromone from their extruded sting to attract males.

Photo Gallery

• 

  Leptothorax gredleri worker. Phot by Michal Kukla.

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Palaearctic Leptothorax and Formicoxenus

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 59.930404° to 42.7°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps, Seifert (2023)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Austria (type locality), Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iberian Peninsula, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

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

Nest in small sticks in pine forest.

Females practice female calling outside their natal nest, then either found a new nest alone, seek adoption in another nest, or return to their own nest. Colonies that contain more than one queen exhibit functional monogyny.

Bernadou et al. (2016) studied the behavior of newly mated queens. They found queens can distinguish their natal nest using cuticular hydrocarbons found on a substrate. Overall there was a preference for newly mated queens to choose a nest previously used by their natal nestmates. For queens adopted back into their natal nest within laboratory nests, a large majority of these queens were killed within the eight weeks. They concluded newly mated queens may preferentially re-inhabit their natal nest after mating, then subsequently leave before they are killed.

Flight Period

						X	X
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: antkeeping.info.

• Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.

 Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Association with Other Organisms

 Explore: Show all Associate data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

This species is a host for the ant Harpagoxenus sublaevis (a dulotic parasite) (Foitzik et al., 2003; Guillem et al., 2014; de la Mora et al., 2021).

Life History Traits

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

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0281542. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0281541. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Syntype of Leptothorax gredleri. Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0901772. 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.

• gredleri. Leptothorax gredleri Mayr, 1855: 438 (w.q.) AUSTRIA. Schenck, 1861: 196 (m.). Combination in L. (Mychothorax): Forel, 1915d: 26. Junior synonym of muscorum: Roger, 1862c: 296. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of muscorum: Forel, 1874: 87. Raised to species: Bondroit, 1918: 122. Subspecies of muscorum: Dalla Torre, 1893: 125; Emery, 1916b: 176; Emery, 1924d: 262; Stitz, 1939: 163; Novak & Sadil, 1941: 90. Junior synonym of muscorum: Brown, 1955a: 47 (in text). Revived from synonymy and status as species: Buschinger, 1966b: 165. See also: Bernard, 1967: 389; Baroni Urbani, 1971c: 98; Pisarski, 1975: 24; Kutter, 1977c: 129; Seifert, 2007: 225.

Description

Karyotype

• See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.

 Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

• n = 11 (Germany; Switzerland) (Buschinger et al., 1980; Fischer, 1987; Loiselle et al., 1990).

References

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• Bernadou, A., J. Ruther, and J. Heinze. 2015. Avoid mistakes when choosing a new home: Nest choice and adoption of Leptothorax ant queens. Journal of Insect Physiology. 79:88-95. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.06.008
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• Johnson, C.A. 2000. Mechanisms of dependent colony founding in the slave-making ant, Polyergus breviceps Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ph.D. thesis, City University of New York.
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• Mayr, G. 1855. Formicina austriaca. Beschreibung der bisher im österreichischen Kaiserstaate aufgefundenen Ameisen, nebst Hinzufügung jener in Deutschland, in der Schweiz und in Italien vorkommenden Arten. Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ver. Wien 5: 273-478 (page 438, worker, queen described)
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References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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• ArtDatabanken Bugs (via GBIG)
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