Temnothorax gracilicornis

Temnothorax gracilicornis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Temnothorax
Species:	T. gracilicornis
Binomial name
	Temnothorax gracilicornis; (Emery, 1882) Specimen Label
Subspecies
	Temnothorax gracilicornis nivarianus Santschi, 1925;

Identification

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 28.816667° to 27.730833°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Canary Islands (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

Espadaler (2007) - Three colonies from this Canarian endemic were collected: two were nesting under mosses on a stone; the third was nesting under a small stone. The morphology and coloration of workers and queens fits the description of T. gracilicornis, not of the darker and shinier var. nivarianus, that Wellenius (1955) collected at Frontera. As I have not seen type material of both taxa and samples from Tenerife show varying coloration—from yellow to brownish, thus including both names—and body surface shininess, I refer the samples of El Hierro to the nominal species. This is not a formal proposal of synonymy.

Castes

Nomenclature

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

gracilicornis. Leptothorax gracilicornis Emery, 1882: 450, fig. (w.q.) SPAIN (Canary Is). Combination in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 271. Current subspecies: nominal plus nivarianus.

Description

References

Báthori, F., Seifert, B., Heinze, J., Kiran, K., Karaman, C., Csősz, S. 2024. Taxonomy of the Palearctic socially parasitic Temnothorax (Myrmoxenus) ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). PLOS ONE, 19(10), e0308712 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0308712).
Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 271, Combination in Temnothorax)
Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Emery, C. 1882b. Le crociere dell'yacht "Corsaro" del capitano armatore Enrico d'Albertis. II. Formiche. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. 18: 448-452 (page 450, fig. worker, queen described)
Espadaler, X. 2007. The ants of El Hierro (Canary Islands). Pages 113-127 in R. R. Snelling, B. L. Fisher, and P. S. Ward, editors. Advances in ant systematics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): homage to E. O. Wilson - 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, Gainesville, FL. 80:690 pp.
Perez-Delgado, A.J., Lugo, D., Santos-Perdomo, I., Jimenez-Garcia, E., Suarez, D. 2023. Rediscovery of the Canary Islands endemic Aphaenogaster hesperia Santschi, 1911 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae). Zootaxa 5383(1), 67–74 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5383.1.5).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Barquín, J. Las hormigas de Canarias. Taxonomia, ecologia y distribucion de los Formicidae In Secretariado de publicaciones de la Universidad de La Laguna, Colección Monografías Nº 3. Tenerife: Universidad de La Laguna, 1981.
Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Emery, C. "Le crociere dell'yacht "Corsaro" del capitano armatore Enrico d'Albertis. II. Formiche." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale 18 (1882): 448-452.
Espadaler, X. "The ants of El Hierro (Canary Islands)." Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80 (2007): 113-127.
Espadaler, Xavier. 2007. The Ants of El Hierro (Canary Islands) in Snelling. pp. 113-127
Espadaler, Xavier. 2007. The Ants of El Hierro (Canary Islands). Memoirs of the AMer113-127.
Hohmann H., F. La Roche, G. Ortega, and J. Barquín. 1993. Bienen, Wespen und Ameisen der Kanarischen Inseln. Veröff. Überseemus. Bremen Naturwiss. 12: 14.
Santschi, F. "Nouvelles fourmis de l'Afrique du Nord (Égypte, Canaries, Tunisie)." Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 77 (1908): 517-534.
Wellenius, O. H. "Entomologische Ergebnisse der finnländischen Kanaren-Expedition 1947-1951. No. 10. Formicidae Insularum Canariensium. Systematik, Ökologie und Verbreitung der Kanarischen Formiciden." Commentationes Biologicae Societas Scienitarum Fennica 15(8) (1955): 1-20.