Leptothorax pocahontas

Leptothorax pocahontas
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Leptothorax
Species:	L. pocahontas
Binomial name
Leptothorax pocahontas (Buschinger, 1979)

This rare species is known from only a handful of collections from Alberta, Canada. It was originally thought to be a social parasite but is now known to be free-living. However, queens show striking variability in size, pilosity, sculpture and coloration, the meaning of which remains to be explained (Buschinger & Heinze, 1993).

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: Canada (type locality).

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.

Nomenclature

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

• pocahontas. Doronomyrmex pocahontas Buschinger, 1979b: 216, figs. 1-4, 7 (q.) CANADA. Buschinger & Heinze, 1993: 428 (w.m.). Included in Leptothorax: Heinze, 1998: 195 (combination not stated); combination in Leptothorax: Bolton, 2003: 270.

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 = 18 (Canada) (Fischer, 1987; Buschinger & Heinze, 1993) (as Doronomyrmex pocahontas).

References

• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 270, Combination in Leptothorax)
• Buschinger, A. 1979b. Doronomyrmex pocahontas n. sp., a parasitic ant from Alberta, Canada (Hym. Formicidae). Insectes Soc. 26: 216-222. (page 216, figs. 1-4, 7 queen described)
• Buschinger, A. 2009. Social parasitism among ants: a review (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 219-235.
• Buschinger, A.; Heinze, J. 1993. Doronomyrmex pocahontas: not a workerless parasite but still an enigmatic taxon (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes Soc. 40: 423-432 (page 428, worker, male described)
• Heinze, J. 1998 [1995]. The origin of workerless parasites in Leptothorax (s. str.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche (Camb.) 102: 195-214 (page 195, Included in Leptothorax (combination not stated))