Temnothorax congruus

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Temnothorax congruus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Temnothorax
Species group: palearctic
Species: T. congruus
Binomial name
Temnothorax congruus
(Smith, F., 1874)

Temnothorax congruus P casent0901786.jpg

Temnothorax congruus D casent0901786.jpg

Specimen Label


Common Name
Muneboso-ari
Language: Japanese

This is an arboreal species, nesting in dead twigs of standing trees. Nuptial flights occur in mid July (Sonobe, 1980). The chromosome number is 2n = 18 (Imai & Kubota, 1972; Japanese Ant Image Database).

Identification

Prebus (2017) - A member of the Palearctic clade.

Radchenko (2004) - T. congruus is a small blackish-brown species with short propodeal spines. It most resembles Temnothorax wui and differs from it by the shape of the petiole, whose node has a wide, slightly convex dorsal plate (in T. wui the petiolar node is very narrowly rounded, subtriangular in profile); the sculpture of the head dorsum: frons with longitudinal rugae and coarse punctures, remaining parts punctate (in T. wui the whole head dorsum finely and densely punctate, striated only near the eyes; the central part of frons with a smooth and shiny longitudinal band). T. congruus differs from Temnothorax kurilensis by its much shorter antennal scape, which distinctly fails to reach the occipital margin, SI1 < 0.73, SI2 < 0.90 (in the latter species the scape almost reaches or slightly surpasses the occipital margin, SI1 > 0.75, SI2 > 0.94), and by the shorter propodeal spines.

Terayama and Onoyama (1999) - Total length of workers around 2.5-3 mm. Body color black to blackish brown. Scapes short, not reaching posterior margin of head. Dorsal outline of mesosoma almost straight in profile. Propodeum with short, triangular spines of variable size. Petiolar node triangular, its dorsal margin angulate in profile.

T. congruus is distinguished from other Japanese Temnothorax species by the black body, the short scapes, and the short propodeal spines.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

In Japan this species is common in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, but rare in Hokkaido (Japanese Ant Image Database).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 42.9096° to 30.810593°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: China, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Japan (type locality), Republic of Korea, Russian Federation.

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

Syoji and Eguchi (2017) - This species is widespread in Japan, usually inhabiting forest edges, bushes and gardens. They nest inside hollow dead branches and dead grass stems. They examined nest choice in laboratory experiments:

using Temnothorax congruus and its putative sympatric competitor Crematogaster teranishii we investigated whether nesting site selection by T. congruus is affected by the presence of C. teranishii.

All of the T. congruous colonies (n=93, found in stems of Hydrangea sp. and bamboo grass) were queenright; the median number of the workers and larvae + pupae per a T. congruous colony was 59 (interquartile range: 39 to 80) and 58 (interquartile range: 35 to 88), respectively. Experimental results suggested that T. congruus colonies prefer straws that are narrow and have a small number of entrances, which may provide defensive and survival advantages to the colonies. In nature, tube-like structures such as dead branches/stems of Hydrangea spp. and bamboo grass often have many holes and cracks. In nature, stems of bamboo grass nests have only one entrance and T. congruus colonies build collars to reduce the entrance size. Using structures containing holes may increase the risks of desiccation (Bollazzi and Roces 2007) and/or invasion by intra and interspecific competitors (Franks & Partridge 1993) and may require additional costs for maintaining/repairing the nest (Franks 1992). Thus, the fitness of T. congruus colonies may be improved by evaluating the quality of tube-like structures and avoiding low-quality ones.

In the presence of C. teranishii, T. congruous colonies clearly avoided tubes near the C. teranishii nests as their nesting site, even if the tubes near C. teranishii nests were higher in quality than those far from C. teranishii nests. The mortality rate of T. congruus adults was higher in the presence of C. teranishii adults than in the absence of them.

Flight Period

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

 Notes: Japan.

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.

  • congruus. Leptothorax congruus Smith, F. 1874: 406 (w.) JAPAN. Wheeler, W.M. 1906c: 317 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1955b: 24 (l.); Imai & Kubota, 1972: 197 (k.). Combination in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 271. See also: Terayama & Onoyama, 1999: 83.

Type Material

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

Description

Karyotype

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • n = 9, 2n = 18 (Japan) (Imai & Kubota, 1972) (as Leptothorax congruus).

Determination Clarifications

Radchenko (2004) - The specimens from North Korea, determined by Collingwood (1976) as T. congruus, are in fact Vollenhovia emeryi Wheeler (material is in Hungarian Natural History Museum, examined).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Anonymous. A list of ants collected at Bandai, Fukushima Prefecture by the members of the Myrmecological Society of Japan in 1992. ARI Reports of the Myrmecologists Society (Japan) 18: 31
  • Choi B.-M. 1987. Taxonomic study on ants (Formicidae) in Korea (1). On the genus Monomorium. Journal of the Institute of Science Education (Cheongju National Teachers' College) 11:17-30.
  • Choi B.M. 1986. Studies on the distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea. Journal of Chongju National Teacher College 23: 317-386.
  • Choi B.M. 1996. Distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea (16) - Ant fauna from Chollabukdo. Korean J. Soil. Zoology 1(1): 5-23.
  • Choi B.M. 1996. Distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea (16): Ant fauna from Chollabukdo. Korean Journal of Soil Zoology 1(1): 5-23.
  • Choi B.M. 1996. Studies on the distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea (15) -Ant fauna islands Ullungdo and Dokdo. Journal of Chongju National University of Education 33: 201-219.
  • Choi B.M. 1997. Distribution of Ants (Formicidae) in Korea (18). Ants Fauna in island Paekryongdo and Taechongdo. Journal of Chongju National University of Education 34: 119-138.
  • Choi B.M., Bang, J.R. 1992. Studies on the distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea (9). Ant fauna in Mt. Togyusan. Korean Journal of Applied Entomology 31:101-112.
  • Choi B.M., K. Ogata, and M. Terayama. 1993. Comparative studies of ant faunas of Korea and Japan. 1. Faunal comparison among islands of Southern Korean and northern Kyushu, Japan. Bull. Biogeogr. Soc. Japan 48(1): 37-49.
  • Choi B.M., Kim, C.H., Bang, J.R. 1993. Studies on the distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea (13). A checklist of ants from each province (Do), with taxonomic notes. Cheongju Sabom Taehakkyo Nonmunjip (Journal of Cheongju National University of Education) 30: 331-380.
  • Choi B.M., and J. R. Bang. Studies on the distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea (12): the analysis of ant communities in 23 islands. Journal of Cheongju National University of Education 30:317-330.
  • Collingwood C. A. 1976. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from North Korea. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 68:
  • Eto S., and K. Ogata. 1983. Ants of Hirado Island, Kyushu. Bulletin of the Nagasaki Prefecture Biological Group 25: 7-11.
  • Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
  • Ha S.J, S.J. Park, and B.J. Kim. 2002. Comparative ant faunas between Seonyudo and seven other islands of West Sea in Korea. Korean Journal of Entomology 32(2): 75-79.
  • Harada Y., K. Asai, M. Araba, T. Higasayama, and N. Saito. 2019. Ant fauna at ports on the Goto Islands – monitoring of alien ant species –. Nature of Kagoshima 46: 27–32.
  • Hayashida K. 1964. Studies on the ecological distribution of ants in Kutchan and its adjacent area. Journal of the Sapporo Otani Junior College 2: 107-129.
  • Hisamatsu M. 2004. List of Hymenoptera Recorded in Ibaraki Prefecture. Bulletin of Ibaraki Nature Museum 7: 125-164.
  • Hosoichi S., M. M. Rahman, T. Murakami, S. H. Park, Y. Kuboki, and K. Ogata. 2019. Winter activity of ants in an urban area of western Japan. Sociobiology 66(3): 414-419.
  • Hosoishi S. 2006. Ant fauna of Noko Island. pp99-107. In: The floristic and faunistic surveys of the Noko Island.
  • Ichinose K. 1990. The Ant Fauna of the Tomakomai Experiment Forest, Hokkaido University (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with Notes on the Nuptial Season. Research Bulletins of College Experiment Forests 47(1) 137-144.
  • Ikeshita Y., A. Gotoh, K. Yamamoto, N. Taniguchi, and F. Ito. 2007. Ants collected in Mt. Linoyama, Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Kagawa Seibutsu 34: 59-62.
  • Imai, H. T.; Kubota, M. 1972. Karyological studies of Japanese ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) III. Karyotypes of nine species in Ponerinae, Formicinae and Myrmicinae. Chromosoma (Berlin) 37:197. [1972-05-12] PDF 126055
  • Kim B., Ryu D., Park S., and J. Kim. 1994. Systematic study on ants from coasts of Korean Peninsula (Hym: Formicidae). Korean journal of entomology 24: 293-309.
  • Kim B.J. 1996. Synonymic list and distribution of Formicidae (Hymenoptera) in Korea. Entomological Research Bulletin Supplement 169-196.
  • Kim C.H., B.M. Choi, and J.R. Bang. 1992. Studies on the distribution of ants (Formicidae) in Korea (8)-Ant fauna in 10 islands, Chollanam-do. Korean J. Appl. Entomol. 31(4): 345-359.
  • Kim K.I., C.H. Kim, and B. Choi. 1989. The ant fauna of the southern shore in Gyeongsangnamdo, Korea. Journal of Gyeongsang Nat. Univ. 28(2): 213-226.
  • Kim et al. 1993. Systematic study of ants from Chejudo Province. Koran Journal of Entomology 23(3): 117-141.
  • Kubota. S., and M. Terayama. 1988. Ant fauna of Tokyo. (1) A list of ants collected at the parks. ARI Reports of the Myrmecologists Society (Japan) 16: 14-16
  • Lelej A. S. 2012. Annotated catalogue of the Insects of Russian Far East. Volume 1. Hymenoptera. Dalnauka: Vladivostok. 635 p.
  • Lyu D.-P.; Cho W.-S. 2003. Review of Korean Formicoxenini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Korea. Insecta Koreana 20: 265-280.
  • Maeto K. and S. Sato. 2004. Impacts of forestry on ant species richness and composition in warm-temperate forests of Japan. Forest Ecology and Management 187: 213–223.
  • Manabe K. 1994. Ants of the shrine forest in Fukuoka Prefecture (First report; Ants of lowland). Ari 17: 6.
  • Manabe K. 1994. Ants of the shrine forest in Fukuoka Prefecture (first report; ants of lowland). Ari 18: 6.
  • Mano T., and N. Kanie. 2004. Investigations of insects at Hirosawagawa river in the northern area of Toyota City (Aichi Prefecture). Yahagi research (?????) 8: 123-147.
  • Masuko K. 1982. A data on the myrmecofauna of Miyake Island. Ari 10: 1-2.
  • Mizota K. 2002. A check list of insects in Kinkazan Island, Miyagi Pref., Northeastern Japan: A bibliographical Survey. Bulletin of Miyagi University of Education Environmental Education 5: 69-78.
  • Ochi K. 1983. Distribution pattern of ants in pine stands, with special reference to Monomorium nipponense Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Gensei 44:1-6.
  • Ogata. K., Touyama, Y. and Choi, B. M. 1994. Ant fauna of Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. ARI Reports of the Myrmecologists Society (Japan) 18: 18-25
  • Park S. H., S. Hosoishi, K. Ogata, and Y. Kuboki. 2014. Clustering of ant communities and indicator species analysis using self-organizing maps. Comptes Rendus Biologies http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2014.07.003
  • Park S.J., and B.J. Kim. 2002. Faunal comparison of ants among Cheongsando and other islands of South Sea in Korea. Korean Journal of Entomology 32(1): 7-12.
  • Park, Seong, Joon and Byung, and Kim, Jin. 2002. Faunal Comparison of Ants among Cheongsando and Other Islands of South Sea in Korea. Korean Jornal of Entomology. 32(1):7-12.
  • Radchenko A. 2004. A review of the ant genera Leptothorax Mayr and Temnothorax Mayr (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the eastern Palaearctic. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 50:109-137.
  • Radchenko, A. 2005. Monographic revision of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of North Korea. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 55: 127-221.
  • Radchenko, A. 2005. Monographic revision of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of North Korea. Annales Zoologici 55(2): 127-221.
  • Sakai H. 2002. Reproductive flight season of Japanese ants. Ari 26: 33-39.
  • Shimazaki, A. and Miyashita, T. 2005. Variable dependence on detrital and grazing food webs by generalist predators: aerial insects and web spiders. Ecography 28: 485-495.
  • Sunamura E., K. Nishisue, M. Terayama, and S. Tatsuki. 2007. Invasion of Four Argentine Ant Supercolonies into Kobe Port, Japan: Their Distributions and Effects on Indigenous Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 50: 659-674.
  • Tanaka B., N. Kanie, T. Mano, R. Arita, and A. Shiragane. 1999. The insect fauna between Takabashi bridge and Nomi-kouen Park, margins of the Yahagigawa river. ????? 3: 35-79.
  • Terayama M. 1977. Checklist of the known ants of Saitama Prefecture. Insects and nature 12(4): 26-27
  • Terayama M. 1978. Ants of Bukozan. Nature and insects 13(4): 32-34.
  • Terayama M. 1992. Structure of ant communities in East Asia. A. Regional differences and species richness. Bulletin of the Bio-geographical Society of Japan 47: 1-31.
  • Terayama M. 2000. Ants from the Imperial Palace, Tokyo. Mem. Natn. Mus. Tokyo 36: 361-368.
  • Terayama M., Choi, B.M., Kim, C.H. 1992. A check list of ants from Korea, with taxonomic notes. Bulletin of the Toho Gakuen 7:19-54.
  • Terayama M., K. Ogata, and B.M. Choi. 1994. Distribution records of ants in 47 prefectures of Japan. Ari (report of the Myrmecologists Society of Japan) 18: 5-17.
  • Terayama M., S. Kubota, and K. Eguchi. 2014. Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, 278 pp.
  • Terayama M., Y. Tanaka, and S. Tatsuki. 2006. Effects of the invasive ants Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on native ant and homopterous insect communities in Japan. Ari 28: 13-27.
  • Terayama M., and K. Murata. 1987. Relation between ant communities and vegetations of Toshima island, the Izu Islands. Bull. Biogeogr. Soc. Japan 42(9): 57-63.
  • Terayama M., and K. Murata. 1990. Effects of area and fragmentation of forests for nature conservation: Analysis by ant communities. Bull. Biogeogr. Soc. Japan 45(2): 11-17.
  • Terayama M., and S. Kubota. 1994. Ants from Aogashima Island. Ari 17: 11.
  • Terayama M., and S. Kubota. 2002. Ants of Tokyo, Japan. ARI 26: 1-32.
  • Terayama M., and S. Yamane. 1984. Ants of Yaku-shima Island, the northern Ryukyus, with reference to their altitudinal distribution (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Cons. Rep. Yaku-shima Wildness Area, Kyushu, Japan, pp. 643-667. Nat. Cons. Bureau, Env. Agency, Japan.
  • Terayama M.; Onoyama, K. 1999. The ant genus Leptothorax Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Japan. Memoirs of the Myrmecological Society of Japan 1:71-97.
  • Terayama. M. 2004. Geological and ecological distribution of Japanese ants communities. (translated from Japanese) Reports of the Saitama Prefecture Animal Research Association. 48:34
  • Teruyama. M. 1988. Ant fauna of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. ARI Reports of the Myrmecologists Society (Japan) 16: 4-13
  • Togashi I., and M. Terayama. 2010. Ant fauna of Hegurajima and Nanatsujima islands, Ishikawa Prefecture. Bull. Biogeoger. Soc. Japan 65: 195-196.
  • Yoshimura M. 1998. Ants from Islands in Hokkaido, Northern Japan (No. 1, Risiri Island). Rishiri Studies 17:33-38.
  • Yoshimura M. 1999. Ants in the island of Hokkaido (Part 2, Part Rebun) Ants from Islands in Hokkaido, Northern Japan (No. 2, Rebun-Island). Rishiri Studies 18: 49-54.
  • Yoshimura M. 2000. Ants in the island of Hokkaido (Part 3, Part ???) Ants from Islands in Hokkaido, Northern Japan (No. 3, Teuri Island). Rishiri Studies 19: 27-35.
  • Zhou S., J.; Huang, D. Yu, and Z. Liu. 2010. Eight new species and three newly recorded species of the ant genus Temnothorax Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Chinese mainland, with a key. Sociobiology 56:(1): 7-26
Retrieved from "https://antwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Temnothorax_congruus&oldid=722204"