Myrmica aloba

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Myrmica aloba
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Myrmicini
Genus: Myrmica
Species group: scabrinodis
Species: M. aloba
Binomial name
Myrmica aloba
Forel, 1909

Myrmica aloba P casent0907652.jpg

Myrmica aloba D casent0907652.jpg

Specimen Label

Synonyms

M. aloba is almost exclusively an Iberian form that is associated with hot, but moist grassland conditions, where it nests in very similar places to Myrmica scabrinodis living in cooler climates. In the extreme south-west of Europe near Cape St. Vincent in Portugal, we observed many populous nests living in the tops of large grass tussocks in river flood meadows that are grazed by cattle. They have been found on marshy grassland in north Portugal, where they were hosts to the Large Blue Butterfly Phengaris alcon (Denis et Schiffermiiller) (I. Wynhoff, pers. comm.). In Spain in summer they are often found foraging on rocks near dried-up water-courses, lakes and springs. In the mountains of Soria we have found nests living in soil on cattle meadows near a spring. Here M. aloba lived sympatrically with M. scabrinodis and both species appeared to be hosts to Ph. alcon. The ecological separation of these species on such sites has not yet been studied in detail, but it seemed that M. aloba avoided the very boggy conditions close to the spring, where some M. scabrinodis nests were observed. Sexuals were found in nests from the end of July until mid-September, which indicates that M. aloba swarms in late summer. (Radchenko and Elmes 2010)

Photo Gallery

  • Garcia et al. (2024), Figure 17. Habitat of Sena de Luna where two M. babiensis gynes were captured inside a M. aloba nest. In the foreground is the mossy stone where the parasitized colony was found.

Identification

Radchenko and Elmes (2010) – A member of the scabrinodis complex of the scabrinodis species group. It is most similar to Myrmica scabrinodis: the female castes of the two species have a strongly curved (though not angularly bent) scape, but M. aloba differs from M. scabrinodis by the absence of a lobe on the bend of the scape having at most only a small longitudinal ridge. Males were described relatively recently (Tinaut and Espadaler 1987) based on nest samples containing both workers and males; the males of M. aloba are very similar to those of M. scabrinodis by the length of scape and character of pilosity on the scape and legs. Garcia et al. (2024), Table 1. Biometric measurements and indexes following Radchenko and Elmes (2010) of M. babiensis, M. aloba (own data, in microns, mean ± standard deviation (minimum; maximum)) and other big sized parasitic Myrmica gynes (minimum–maximum, data taken from Radchenko and Elmes, 2003).

Species Myrmica babiensis
n=19 		Myrmica aloba
n=14 		Myrmica laurae
n=14 		Myrmica bibikoffi
n=2 		Myrmica hirsuta
n=36 		Myrmica myrmicoxena
n=6
HL 1155.5 ± 34.9
(1078; 1212) 		1321.8 ± 28
(1278; 1361) 		950–1090 1240–1400 1000–1180 1020–1050
HW 1070.6 ± 37.3
(979; 1137) 		1185.1 ± 32.9
(1145; 1228) 		870–1050 1220–1340 880–1100 940–970
SL 753.1 ± 25
(712; 792) 		942.8 ± 26.1
(888; 988) 		680–790 960–1000 720–880 670–700
AL 1802.6 ± 70.1
(1650; 1925) 		2015.4 ± 67.8
(1925; 2131) 		1500–1850 2140 1620–2000 1520–1580
HL/HW 1.077 ± 0.034
(1.033; 1.186) 		0.993 ± 0.021
(0.962; 1.025) 		- - - -
FW/HW 0.457 ± 0.022
(0.429; 0.516) 		0.349 ± 0.015
(0.326; 0.376) 		0.41–0.49 0.35–0.39 0.39–0.46 0.45–0.46
FLW/FW 1.059 ± 0.015
(1.033; 1.091) 		1.216 ± 0.042
(1.144; 1.274) 		1.05–1.17 1.26–1.37 1.10–1.30 1.16–1.21
SL/HL 0.652 ± 0.025
(0.605; 0.690) 		0.713 ± 0.021
(0.677; 0.754) 		0.70–0.75 0.71–0.77 0.68–0.81 0.65–0.66
SL/HW 0.703 ± 0.024
(0.660; 0.746) 		0.708 ± 0.022
(0.669; 0.747) 		0.74–0.80 0.79–0.80 0.73–0.84 0.71–0.72
PL/PH 1.006 ± 0.066
(0.870; 1.110) 		1.294 ± 0.069
(1.208; 1.421) 		- - - -
PPW/HW 0.759 ± 0.043
(0.700; 0.888) 		0.462 ± 0.019
(0.434; 0.497) 		0.62–0.69 0.60–0.61 0.57–0.72 0.56–0.57
ESL/HW 0.321 ± 0.0367
(0.258; 0.382) 		0.286 ± 0.012
(0.259; 0.301) 		0.35–0.41 0.30–0.35 0.24–0.36 0.18–0.23
ESD/ESL 1.977 ± 0.203
(1.594; 2.314) 		1.471 ± 0.073
(1.341; 1.559) 		- - - -

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 43.686667° to 36.087222°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Balearic Islands, China, France, Iberian Peninsula, Portugal, Spain (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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.
pChart

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.
pChart

Biology

Association with Other Organisms

Explore-icon.png 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 Myrmica babiensis (a workerless inquiline) in Spain (Garcia et al. (2024)).

Flight Period

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

Source: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010.

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

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • aloba. Myrmica scabrinodis var. aloba Forel, 1909c: 103 (w.) SPAIN. Santschi, 1925g: 340 (q.); Finzi, 1926: 95 (w.); Tinaut & Espadaler, 1987: 61 (m.). Subspecies of rugulosoides: Finzi, 1926: 95. Raised to species: Santschi, 1931b: 340; Santschi, 1936c: 199. Senior synonym of albuferensis: Santschi, 1931b: 340; of rolandi: Seifert, 1988b: 29. See also: Collingwood & Yarrow, 1969: 56; Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 84.
  • rolandi. Myrmica rolandi Bondroit, 1918: 101 (w.q.) FRANCE. Subspecies of sulcinodis: Santschi, 1919e: 244; Menozzi, 1922b: 325; of scabrinodis: Emery, 1921f: 40; Santschi, 1925g: 340; Santschi, 1931b: 344. Revived status as species: Finzi, 1926: 89; Bernard, 1967: 115. Junior synonym of aloba: Seifert, 1988b: 29.
  • albuferensis. Myrmica albuferensis Lomnicki, 1925b: 2 (w.) SPAIN (Balearic Is.). Junior synonym of rolandi: Finzi, 1926: 89; Bernard, 1956b: 257; of aloba: Santschi, 1931b: 340; Seifert, 1988b: 29.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Forel 1909 aloba.png

Etymology

M. aloba: from a combination of loba derived from the Greek = lobe [of ear] and the prefix α (a) = not or without, to indicate the mostly absent (or extremely reduced) lobe on the bend of the scape compared to its close relative M. scabrinodis.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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