Temnothorax muellerianus
Temnothorax muellerianus | |
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Formicidae |
Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
Tribe: | Crematogastrini |
Genus: | Temnothorax |
Species group: | palearctic |
Species: | T. muellerianus |
Binomial name | |
Temnothorax muellerianus (Finzi, 1922) | |
Synonyms | |
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This species is a slave-maker of other Temnothorax species. When a nest on Crete was uncovered by Salata, Borowiec & Trichas (2018) both gyne and workers were hiding in soil while host species workers were trying to hide pupae and eggs. Infected nests were located in very dry and sunny localities. Also on Crete, one queenright colony of Temnothorax muellerianus with Temnothorax semiruber as slaves (Buschinger & Douwes, 1990). It is remarkable that Temnothorax semiruber workers are larger than the workers of the slavemaker Temnothorax muellerianus. This contrasts with all other records of this species with other, smaller Temnothorax species.
At a Glance | • Dulotic • Tandem running |
Identification
Prebus (2017) - A member of the Palearctic clade.
Salata et al. (2018) – The social parasite Temnothorax muellerianus is characterized by the presence of a tooth-like projections on the ventral surfaces of the petiole and postpetiole, a deep metanotal groove, and reduced body striation.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Salata et al. (2024) - This species has been known only from western Türkiye and Samos island in Greece. The Cypriot record of Temnothorax muellerianus by Buschinger & Douwes (1993) with great probability concerns T. curtisetosus. We agree with Beibl et al. (2007) that populations of C. muellerianus from the eastern part of Mediterranean Basin represent a complex of cryptic species and populations from Eastern Aegean islands, Southwestern Türkiye and Cyprus belong to T. curtisetosus.
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 45.533333° to 31.166667°.
North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Iberian Peninsula, Italy (type locality), Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye.
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
This species is a slave-maker of the following species:
- Temnothorax affinis (rare host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax exilis (Beibl et al., 2007; Salata, Borowiec & Trichas, 2018; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax flavicornis (rare host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax interruptus (Beibl et al., 2007; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax luteus (Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax marae (Italy; Schifani et al., 2022; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax nigriceps (common host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax racovitzai (Beibl et al., 2007; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax recedens (common host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax rottenbergii (Beibl et al., 2007; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax semiruber (Salata, Borowiec & Trichas, 2018; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax tuberum (rare host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Buschinger et al., 1988; de la Mora et al., 2021)
- Temnothorax unifasciatus (most common host) (Beibl et al., 2007; Blatrix & Sermage, 2005; Buschinger et al., 1988; Seifert, 2018; de la Mora et al., 2021)
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.
Fungi
This species is a host for the fungus Myrmicinosporidium durum (a pathogen) in Italy (Sanchez-Peña et al., 1993; Buschinger et al., 2004; Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).
Life History Traits
- Queen number: monogynous (Ehrhardt, 1982; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- muellerianus. Leptothorax (Temnothorax) muellerianus Finzi, 1922: 118, fig. 1 (w.) ITALY. Combination in Chalepoxenus: Finzi, 1924b: 123; in Temnothorax: Ward et al., 2014: 15. Senior synonym of gribodoi: Kutter, 1973d: 276; provisional senior synonym of insubricus, siciliensis: Buschinger, Erhardt, Fischer & Ofer, 1988: 398.
- gribodoi. Chalepoxenus gribodoi Menozzi, 1923a: 257, figs (w.q.) ITALY. [Spelled gridoboi p. 257, corrected to gribodoi p. 258.] Menozzi, 1925a: 21 (m.). Junior synonym of muellerianus: Kutter, 1973d: 276.
- insubricus. Chalepoxenus insubricus Kutter, 1950b: 337, figs. (m.) SWITZERLAND. Kutter, 1973d: 279 (w.q.). See also: Kutter, 1977c: 136. Provisional junior synonym of muellerianus: Buschinger, Erhardt, Fischer & Ofer, 1988: 398.
- siciliensis. Chalepoxenus siciliensis Kutter, 1973d: 278, figs. 1, 3, 4, 6 (w.q.) ITALY (Sicily). Provisional junior synonym of muellerianus: Buschinger, Erhardt, Fischer & Ofer, 1988: 398.
Description
Karyotype
- See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.
- Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
- n = 12 (Croatia; France; Greece; Italy) (Fischer, 1987) (as Chalepoxenus siciliensis).
References
- Beibl, J., Buschinger, A., Foitzik, S., Heinze, J. 2007. Phylogeny and phylogeography of the Mediterranean species of the parasitic ant genus Chalepoxenus and its Temnothorax hosts. Insectes Sociaux 54, 189-199 (doi:10.1007/s00040-007-0932-y).
- Beibl, J., Stuart, R.J., Heinze, J., Foitzik, S. 2005. Six origins of slavery in formicoxenine ants. Insectes Sociaux 52, 291–297 (doi:10.1007/s00040-005-0808-y).
- Borowiec, L. & Salata, S. 2013. Ants of Greece – additions and corrections (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 24, 335-401.
- Buschinger, A. 1987. Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter 1950 and other parasitic ants found in the Pyrenees (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Spixiana 10, 81-83.
- Buschinger, A. 2009. Social parasitism among ants: a review (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 219-235.
- Buschinger, A., Douwes, P. 1993. Socially parasitic ants of Greece. - 5e Congrès International sur la Zoogéographie et l’Écologie de la Grèce et des régions avoisinantes - Iraklion, Avril 1990. Biologia Gallo-hellenica 20, 183-189.
- Buschinger, A., Ehrhardt, W., Fischer, K., Ofer, J. 1988. The slave-making ant genus Chalepoxenus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). I. Review of literature, range, slave species. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 115: 383-401. (page 398, Provisional senior synonym of insubricus and sicilinesis)
- Espadaler, X., Santamaria, S. 2012. Ecto- and Endoparasitic Fungi on Ants from the Holarctic Region. Psyche Article ID 168478, 10 pages (doi:10.1155/2012/168478).
- Finzi, B. 1922a [1921]. Primo contributo alla conoscenza della fauna mirmecologica della Venezia Giulia. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 53: 118-120 (page 118, fig. 1 worker described)
- Finzi, B. 1924b. Secondo contributo alla conoscenza della fauna mirmecologica della Venezia Giulia. Boll. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 56: 120-123 (page 123, Combination in Chalepoxenus)
- García, F., Cuesta-Segura, A.D., Espadaler, X. 2024. Myrmica babiensis sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a new social parasite from the NW Iberian Peninsula. Annales Zoologici 74(1), 113-127 (doi:10.3161/00034541anz2024.74.1.006).
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- Kutter, H. 1973e. Zur Taxonomie der Gattung Chalepoxenus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae). Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 46: 269-280 (page 276, Senior synonym of gribodoi)
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- Prebus, M. 2017. Insights into the evolution, biogeography and natural history of the acorn ants, genus Temnothorax Mayr (hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bmc Evolutionary Biology. 17:250. doi:10.1186/s12862-017-1095-8 (The doi link to the publication's journal webpage provides access to the 24 files that accompany this article).
- Salata, S., Borowiec, L., Trichas, A. 2018. Taxonomic revision of the Cretan fauna of the genus Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with notes on the endemism of ant fauna of Crete. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 68(4): 769-808 (DOI 10.3161/00034541ANZ2018.68.4.004).
- Salata, S., Borowiec, L., Trichas, A. 2020. Review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Crete, with keys to species determination and zoogeographical remarks. Monographs of the Upper Silesian Museum No 12: 5–296 (doi:10.5281/ZENODO.3738001).
- Salata, S., Demetriou, J., Georgiadis, C., Borowiec, L. 2024. The genus Temnothorax Mayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Cyprus. Zootaxa 5434(1), 1-69 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5434.1.1).
- Sanchez-Peña, S.R., Buschinger, A., Humber, R.A. 1993. Myrmicinosporidium durum, an enigmatic fungal parasite of ants. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 61: 90-96 doi:10.1006/jipa.1993.1016).
- Schifani, E., Csősz, S., Viviano, R., Alicata, A. 2021. Ant diversity on the largest Mediterranean islands: on the presence or absence of 28 species in Sicily (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Natural History Sciences 8, 55–70 (doi:10.4081/nhs.2021.532).
- Ward, P.S., Brady, S.G., Fisher, B.L., Schultz, T.R. 2015. The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 40: 61–81 (doi:10.1111/syen.12090).
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- AntArea. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://antarea.fr/fourmi/
- Antarea (at www.antarea.fr on June 11th 2017)
- Asociacion Iberica de Mirmecologia. 2011. List of species collected during the Taxomara Lisboa 2011. Iberomyrmex 3: 30-31.
- Beibl, J., A. Buschinger, S. Foitzik and J. Heinze. 2007. Phylogeny and phylogeography of the Mediterranean species of the parasitic ant genus Chalepoxenus and its Temnothorax hosts. Insectes Sociaux 54:189-199
- Beibl, J., P. D'Ettorre and J. Heinze. 2007. Cuticular profiles and mating preference in a slave-making ant. Insectes Sociaux. 54:174-182
- Beibl, J., R.J. Stuart, J. Heinze and S. Foitzik. 2005. Six origins of slavery in formicoxenine ants. Insectes Sociaux 52:291-297
- Bernard F. 1967. Faune de l'Europe et du Bassin Méditerranéen. 3. Les fourmis (Hymenoptera Formicidae) d'Europe occidentale et septentrionale. Paris: Masson, 411 pp.
- Bernard, F. "Notes sur les fourmis de France. II. Peuplement des montagnes méridionales." Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 115 (1950): 1-36.
- Blatrix R., C. Lebas, C. Galkowski, P. Wegnez, P. Pimenta, and D. Morichon. 2016. Vegetation cover and elevation drive diversity and composition of ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Mediterranean ecosystem. – Myrmecological News 22: 119-127.
- Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
- Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
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- Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2017. Ants of the Peloponnese, Greece (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Polish Journal of Entomology 86: 193-236.
- Bracko G. 2007. Checklist of the ants of Slovenia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Natura Sloveniae 9: 15-24
- Bracko, G. 2006. Review of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) of Croatia. Acta Entomologica Slovenica 14(2): 131-156.
- Bracko, G. "Review of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Croatia." Acta Entomologica Slovenica Vol 14 st (2006): 131-156.
- Buschinger, A. 1999. Bemerkenswerte ameisenfunde aus Sudtirol (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 3: 1-8.
- Buschinger, A., Beibl, J., D’Ettorre, P., Ehrhardt, W. 2004. Recent records of Myrmicinosporidium durum Hölldobler, 1933, a fungal parasite of ants, with first record north of the Alps after 70 years. Myrmecologische Nachrichten 6: 9-12.
- Buschinger, A., W. Ehrhardt, K. Fischer, and J. Ofer. "The slave-making ant genus Chalepoxenus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). I. Review of literature, range, slave species." Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere (Jena) 115 (1988): 383-401.
- Buschinger, A. "Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter 1950 and other parasitic ants found in the Pyrenees." Spixiana 10 (1987): 81-83.
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- Pages using DynamicPageList3 parser function
- IUCN Red List vulnerable species
- Dulotic
- Tandem running
- North temperate
- North subtropical
- Ant Associate
- Host of Temnothorax affinis
- Host of Temnothorax exilis
- Host of Temnothorax flavicornis
- Host of Temnothorax interruptus
- Host of Temnothorax luteus
- Host of Temnothorax marae
- Host of Temnothorax nigriceps
- Host of Temnothorax racovitzai
- Host of Temnothorax recedens
- Host of Temnothorax rottenbergii
- Host of Temnothorax semiruber
- Host of Temnothorax tuberum
- Host of Temnothorax unifasciatus
- Fungus Associate
- Host of Myrmicinosporidium durum
- Karyotype
- Species
- Extant species
- Formicidae
- Myrmicinae
- Crematogastrini
- Temnothorax
- Temnothorax muellerianus
- Myrmicinae species
- Crematogastrini species
- Temnothorax species
- Ssr
- IUCN Red List