Tapinoma simrothi

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Tapinoma simrothi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Genus: Tapinoma
Species: T. simrothi
Binomial name
Tapinoma simrothi
Krausse, 1911

Tapinoma simrothi casent0178242 profile 1.jpg

Tapinoma simrothi casent0178242 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Subspecies

Mainly a west-Mediterranean taxon, mentioned also from Afghanistan and the Arabian Peninsula (Rigato & Toni, 2011). Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran on the ground and on trees, and on the ground in a moderate to low rainfall area.

At a Glance • Invasive  

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 43.95° to 25.923333°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
Palaearctic Region: Afghanistan, Algeria, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, China, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Greece, Iberian Peninsula, Iran, Italy (type locality), Kuwait, Malta, Montenegro, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Spain, Türkiye.

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.
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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

Tapinoma simrothi in Saudi Arabia was observed nesting in a decaying carpet, among roots of graminae plants and attending unidentified mealybugs, and also coexisting with Solenopsis abdita (as Solenopsis saudiensis) (Sharaf and Aldawood 2011).

Karami-jamour et al (2018) studied interactions between this ant and the aphid Aphis gossypii. Tapinoma simrothi tends this aphid and potentially protects it from predators. Laboratory microcosm experiments with plants, ants, aphids and two aphid predators (Chrysoperla carnea Stephens, green lacewing and Coccinellia septempunctata Mulsant, ladybird/ladybug) suggested T. simrothi can decrease predation of the aphid.

Association with Other Organisms

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This species is associated with the following aphids: Aphis craccivora, Aphis davletshinae, Aphis fabae, Aphis frangulae, Aphis gossypii, Aphis nasturtii, Aphis nerii, Aphis pomi, Aphis punicae, Aphis rumicis, Aphis umbrella, Brachycaudus cardui, Brachycaudus helichrysi, Brachyonguis harmalae, Brachyonguis tamaricophilus, Capitophorus inulae, Cinara cedri, Colorado absinthiella, Eulachnus tuberculostommata, Hyalopterus pruni, Myzus persicae, Nearctaphis bakeri, Pterochloroides persicae, Rhopalosiphum maidis, Rhopalosiphum padi and Thelaxes suberis (Saddiqui et al., 2019 and included references).

Fungi

This species is a host for the fungus Myrmicinosporidium durum (a pathogen) in Portugal (Gonçalves et al., 2012.).

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • simrothi. Tapinoma erraticum var. simrothi Krausse, 1911: 18 (w.) ITALY (Sardinia). Emery, 1925d: 49 (q.m.). Raised to species: Emery, 1925d: 48; Menozzi, 1933b: 77; Santschi, 1936c: 204. Junior synonym of erraticum: Baroni Urbani, 1964b: 55. Revived from synonymy, status as species: Bernard, 1967: 259; Kutter, 1977c: 182. Current subspecies: nominal plus phoeniceum. See also: Shattuck, 1994: 154.

Description

Karyotype

  • n = 9, 2n = 18 (Spain; Tunisia) (Hauschteck-Jungen & Jungen, 1983).
  • n = 9 (Crozier, 1975).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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