Template:Cover & Rabeling (2024), Table 2

Cover & Rabeling (2024), Table 2. Morphological and life history traits characteristic of the inquiline syndrome in Tapinoma ants. Morphological reductions are determined by comparisons to the host, Tapinoma sessile, which is included in this table (traits modified from Kutter 1968; Wilson 1971, 1984; Rabeling et al. 2019; Prebus et al. 2023).

Trait	Host	Social parasites
	Tapinoma sessile	Tapinoma shattucki	Tapinoma inflatiscapus	Tapinoma incognitum	Tapinoma pulchellum
Worker caste absent	–	+	+	+	? (+)
Multiple egg laying host queens present (host polygyny)	+	? (–)	–	+	?
Multiple egg laying parasite queens present in host colony (parasite polygyny)	n/a	+	?	+	?
Parasite queen coexists with host queen (host queen tolerance)	n/a	? (–)	–	+	? (+)
Adelphogamy (inside nest mating)	–	? (–)	?	+	?
Gynaecomorphism (gyne-like male morphology)	–	–	–	+	+
Fragmented populations, limited geographic distribution	– (North America)	+ (2 localities in MA)	+ (UT, CO)	+ (type locality, UT)	+ (type locality, NC)
Reduced body size	–	+ (size of host worker)	+ (size of host worker)	+ (smaller than host worker)	+ (smaller than host worker)
Exoskeleton becomes thinner and less pigmented	–	+	+	+	+
Number of antennal segments reduced in females	– (♀: 12)	– (♀: 12)	– (♀: 12)	– (♀: 12)	– (♀: 12)
Number of antennal segments reduced in males	– (♂: 13)	– (♂: 13)	– (♂: 13)	+ (♂: 12)	+ (♂: 12)
Number of maxillary and labial pals (palp formula) reduced in females	– (♀: 6,4)	+ (♀: 5,4)	+ (♀: 5,4)	+ (♀: 4,3)	+ (♀: 5,4)
Number of maxillary and labial pals (palp formula) reduced in males	– (♂: 6,4)	+ (♂: 5,4)	– (♂: 6,4)	+ (♂: 5,3)	+ (♂: 5,4)
Reduced mandibular dentition	– 14 teeth	– (10–11 denticles)	– (11 denticles)	+ (2–4 denticles, plus apical tooth)	+ (only apical tooth)
Reduced wings in females	– (♀ capable of flying)	– (♀ capable of flying)	– (♀ capable of flying)	+ (♀: wings deciduous)	– (♀: winged)
Reduced wings in males	– (♂ capable of flying)	– (♂ capable of flying)	– (♂ capable of flying)	+ (♂: brachypterous)	+ (♂: brachypterous)
Petiole thickened	–	–	–	+	+

Cited Sources

• Cover, S.P., Rabeling, C. 2024. Four new inquiline social parasite species in the dolichoderine ant genus Tapinoma (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1202, 111–134 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1202.120478).
• Kutter, H. 1968. Die sozialparasitischen Ameisen der Schweiz. Neujahrsblatt der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zürich 171: 1–62.
• Prebus, M., Georgiev, B.B., van de Kamp, T., Hamann, E., Baker, I., Rabeling, C. 2023. The rediscovery of the putative ant social parasite Manica parasitica syn. nov. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) reveals an unexpected endoparasite syndrome. Biology Letters, 19, 20230399 (doi:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0399).
• Rabeling, C., Messer, S., Lacau, S., do Nascimento, I.C., Bacci, M., Delabie, J.H.C. 2019. Acromyrmex fowleri: a new inquiline social parasite species of leaf‑cutting ants from South America, with a discussion of social parasite biogeography in the Neotropical region. Insectes Sociaux 66: 435–451 (doi:10.1007/s00040-019-00705-z).
• Wilson, E.O. 1971. The insect societies. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 548 pp.