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Myrmica obscura
| Myrmica obscura | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Myrmicini |
| Genus: | Myrmica |
| Species: | M. obscura |
| Binomial name | |
| Myrmica obscura Finzi, 1926
| |
The ecology of M. obscura is very similar to that of Myrmica schencki (see notes on ecology of that species). It is quite common on hot well-grazed alpine meadows where it builds nests in the soil and constructs the woven funnel entrance that we have observed is typical for many schencki-group species in the Old World and “schencki-group-like” species in the North America. Nests average about 400 workers with usually a single queen but two or more queens are not uncommon. Our impression is that M. obscura might be able to tolerate slightly hotter and drier conditions than M. schencki but at this time there is no firm data to support this hypothesis. (Radchenko and Elmes 2010)
Identification
Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - A member of the schencki group; it was originally described as a variety of [[Myrmica schencki and is closely related to that species. Morphometric analysis showed that the Apennine populations that we equated to M. obscura, had much wider frons (mean FI = 0.266) compared with M. schencki populations sampled from over its geographical range (mean FI = 0.234), furthermore the M. obscura males had shorter scapes (mean SI2 = 0.451 vs. 0.419) that were significantly less angled (more obtuse) at their base (mean 133'° vs. 121'°).
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Italy South of Alpes.
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Italy (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. |
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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. |
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Biology
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- obscura. Myrmica schencki var. obscura Finzi, 1926: 111 (w.q.m.) ITALY. Junior synonym of lobicornis: Seifert, 1988b: 38; of schencki: Bernard, 1967: 118; Radchenko, 1994f: 77. Revived from synonymy and raised to species: Elmes, Radchenko, et al. 2008: 99. See also: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 206.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Etymology
Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - named from Latin obscure = dark or shaded, originally to indicate that the types were a dark form of M. schdncki.
References
- Bernard, F. 1967a [1968]. Faune de l'Europe et du Bassin Méditerranéen. 3. Les fourmis (Hymenoptera Formicidae) d'Europe occidentale et septentrionale. Paris: Masson, 411 pp. (page 118, Junior synonym of schencki)
- Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
- Elmes, G. W., Radchenko, A.G., Balleto, E., Barbero, F. 2008. Myrmica obscura Finzi - a good ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) endemic to Italy. Fragmenta Faunistica (Warsaw) Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Page(s): 91-100.
- Finzi, B. 1926. Le forme europee del genere Myrmica Latr. Primo contributo. Boll. Soc. Adriat. Sci. Nat. Trieste 29: 71-119 (page 111, worker, queen, male described)
- Radchenko, A. G. 1994f. Survey of the species of the scabrinodis group of the genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from central and eastern Palearctic. Zool. Zh. 73(9 9: 75-82 (page 77, Junior synonym of schencki)
- Radchenko, A.G. & Elmes, G.W. 2010. Myrmica ants of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3: 1-789.
- Schifani, E. (2022). The new checklist of the Italian fauna: Formicidae. Biogeographia – The Journal of Integrative Biogeography 37, ucl006 (doi:10.21426/b637155803).
- Seifert, B. 1988b. A taxonomic revision of the Myrmica species of Europe, Asia Minor, and Caucasia (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Abh. Ber. Naturkundemus. Görlitz 62(3): 1-75 (page 38, Junior synonym of lobicornis)
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.
- Elmes G. W., A. G. Radchenko, E. Balleto, and F. Barbero. 2008. Myrmica obscura Finzi - a good ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) endemic to Italy. Fragmenta Faunistica (Warsaw) Volume: 51 Issue: 2 Page(s): 91-100.
- Finzi B. 1926. Le forme europee del genere Myrmica Latr. Primo contributo. Bollettino della Società Adriatica di Scienze Naturali in Trieste. 29: 71-119.
- Weber N. A. 1948. A revision of the North American ants of the genus Myrmica Latreille with a synopsis of the Palearctic species. II. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 41: 267-308.