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Temnothorax oreades
| Temnothorax oreades | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Crematogastrini |
| Genus: | Temnothorax |
| Species group: | graecus |
| Species: | T. oreades |
| Binomial name | |
| Temnothorax oreades Satala, Demetriou, Georgiadis & Borowiec, 2024 | |
Mountain species. Numerous nests were observed under small and moderate stones inside the shadow Pinus nigra forest; a few nests were also under moss on stones in the rest area with pine trees. Most sites were at an altitude above 1100 m up to the peak of Mt Chionistra (the highest nest was observed at an altitude of 1862 m). The only site that was placed below 1100 m, at an altitude of 842 m, in a very shady place on a mountainside in a valley running along a fenced mouflon farm. Nests were observed in the crevice of a large stone.
Photo Gallery
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Identification
Temnothorax oreades is a member of the T. graecus group, variable in size, morphological details, and body color. Generally, species from higher altitudes are darker colored and more distinctly bicolor with the head usually darker than mesosoma, while specimens from lower altitudes are paler colored with the head not or only slightly darker than mesosoma. Temnothorax oreades has uniformly yellow antennae or its antennal club might be slightly darker yellow than the funicle and in this character is similar to Temnothorax evagorae and Temnothorax cerastarum. Temnothorax aeolius differs in antennal club partly brown to black. Pale specimens of T. oreades are similar to T. cerastarum but differ in less sculptured head with the greater part of the frontal and occipital areas smooth and shiny, longer and needle-shaped propodeal spines with mean PSLI 0.297, and longer antennal scapus with mean SI1 0.933 and SI2 0.785. Temnothorax evagorae is very similar to the pale form of T. oreades in sculpture and shape of petiole, and the best distinguishing characteristic is the length of mesosomal erect setae (T. oreades has longer setae, with the length of longest seta/eye diameter ratio 0.571–0.645 (mean 0.604). Both species are separated ecologically, T. evagorae is a lowland and highland species recorded from the seacoast to an altitude of 838 m, while T. oreades was collected only in mountain habitats from 1100 to 1928 m with only one locality below 1100 m at an altitude 842 m but placed in very shadow and wet site. The last yellow Cypriot species Temnothorax akrotiriensis differs from the pale form of T. oreades in the more sculptured head with a distinctly microreticulate background between large reticulation and rugae thus frontal part of the head looks slightly dull, while in T. oreades this background sculpture is diffused or absent thus frontal part of head looks shiny. Temnothorax akrotiriensis has a very narrow band at the end of its first gastral tergite, which occupies at most ¼ posterior surface of the tergite, while in T. oreades this band usually occupies more than half the length of the tergite. Both species are separated ecologically, T. akrotiriensis was collected only at low altitudes, from the seacoast to 156 m.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
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Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 35.0° to 34.9°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: Salata et al., 2024
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Cyprus (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. |
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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
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 curtisetosus (a inquiline) in Cyprus (Salata et al., 2015).
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- oreades. Temnothorax oreades Satala et al., 2024: 48, figs. 42-51, 64 (w.q.) CYPRUS.
Type Material
- Holotype: worker (pin) “CYPRUS, Limassol Mt | Olympos [= Chionistra] loc. 1, 1862 m | 34.92943 / 32.87001 | 25 IV 2022, L. Borowiec” (MNHW).
- Paratypes (7 gynes, 53 workers, pin): 4g, 33w (4 nests), the same data as for holotype; 1g, 6w “CYPRUS, Limassol Mt | Olympos [= Chionistra] loc. 2, 1609 m | 34.94746 / 32.84706 | 25 IV 2022, L. Borowiec” (MNHW); 1g, 6w “CYPRUS, Limassol Mt | Olympos [= Chionistra] loc. 3, 1929 m | 34.93568 / 32.86242 | 26 IV 2022, S. Salata” (MNHW); 1g, 6w “CYPRUS, Limassol Mt | Olympos [= Chionistra] loc. 3, 1928 m | 34.93563 / 32.8624 | 26 IV 2022, L. Borowiec” (MNHW); 2w “CYPRUS, Limassol 1600 m | ad Kalidonia Waterfall 1 | 34.91508 / 32.87037 | 25 IV 2022, L. Borowiec” (MNHW).