Temnothorax albipennis

Temnothorax albipennis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Temnothorax
Species:	T. albipennis
Binomial name
Temnothorax albipennis (Curtis, 1854) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Leptothorax tuberointerruptus Bondroit, 1918

These ants inhabit grasslands and light scrub, especially on lime subsoil and are sometimes common in dunes. They nests in rock crevices and rubble or in tree stumps and in dry fallen branches. Colonies are reported as monogynous, with up to 200 workers, and may form temporary polydomous systems (Salata & Borowiec, 2013).

At a Glance

• Tandem running

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 53.34683° to 40.325°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (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.

Biology

Hunt et al. (2018) studied asymmetries in left and right eye ommatidia count of T. albipennis. This work was stimulated by an earlier finding that individuals searching for new nest sites exhibit a leftward turning bias. They found "Fifty-six workers were examined: 45% had more ommatidia in the right eye, 36% more in the left, and 20% an equal number. A tentative connection between relative ommatidia count for each eye and turning behaviour was identified, with a stronger assessment of behavioural lateralization before imaging and a larger sample suggested for further work. There was a clear sexual dimorphism in ommatidia counts between queens and males."

Flight Period

						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 Temnothorax ravouxi (a slave maker) (Czechowski & Czechowska, 2000).

Fungi

This species is a host for the fungus Myrmicinosporidium durum (a pathogen) in Italy (Buschinger et al., 2004; Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).

Castes

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0178236. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

• albipennis. Stenamma albipennis Curtis, 1854: 218 (w.m.) GREAT BRITAIN. Combination in Leptothorax: Orledge, 1998: 31; in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 271. Junior synonym of unifasciatus: Nylander, 1856b: 92; of nylanderi: Smith, F. 1858b: 120; of tuberum: Emery, 1924d: 256. Revived from synonymy and senior synonym of tuberointerruptus: Orledge, 1998: 31.
• tuberointerruptus. Leptothorax tuberointerruptus Bondroit, 1918: 126 (w.q.) SWITZERLAND. [First available use of Leptothorax tuberum var. tuberointerruptus Forel, 1874: 86. Nomen nudum. Leptothorax tuberum r. interruptus var. tuberointerruptus Forel, 1915d: 24 (in key); unavailable name.] Status as species: Betrem, 1926: 217. Subspecies of interruptus: Novak & Sadil, 1941: 93. Revived status as species: Seifert, 1994: 22. Junior synonym of albipennis: Orledge, 1998: 31.

Taxonomic Notes

Plateaux, L. & Cagniant, H. 2012: 436: We conclude from all these observations that Leptothorax tuberum unifasciatointerruptus is a hybrid of Temnothorax unifasciatus and Temnothorax albipennis. Hybridization works in both directions, parents may be alternately of the two species, and males are from the parthenogenetic egg of the queen mother. Note that both species exist also in places (especially in Luberon and Ventoux) where the where the form was found. We therefore ask: T. albipennis x T. unifasciatus = L. tuberum unifasciatointerruptus Forel.

Description

Karyotype

• n = 8 (Great Britain) (Orledge, 1998) (as Leptothorax albipennis, L. tuberointerruptus, Stenamma albipennis).
• n = 8 (Germany) (Fischer, 1987) (as Leptothorax albipennis, L. tuberointerruptus, Stenamma albipennis).

References

• Basari, N., Bruendl, A. C., Hemingway, C. E., Roberts, N. W., Sendova-Franks, A. B., Franks, N. R. 2013. Landmarks and ant search strategies after interrupted tandem runs. Journal of Experimental Biology 217, 944-954 (doi:10.1242/jeb.087296).
• Blatrix, R., Aubert, C., Decaëns, T., Berquier, C., Andrei-Ruiz, M.-C., Galkowski, C. 2020. Contribution of a DNA barcode to an assessment of the specificity of ant taxa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on Corsica. European Journal of Entomology 117: 420-429 (doi:10.14411/eje.2020.046).
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 271, Combination in Temnothorax)
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References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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• Antarea (at www.antarea.fr on June 11th 2017)
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