Leptothorax gredleri

Alate queens of this species practice female calling, i.e., they leave their natal nest, climb onto vegetation, and release pheromone from their extruded sting to attract males.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iberian Peninsula, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

Biology
Nest in small sticks in pine forest.

Females practice female calling outside their natal nest, then either found a new nest alone, seek adoption in another nest, or return to their own nest. Colonies that contain more than one queen exhibit functional monogyny.

Bernadou et al. (2016) studied the behavior of newly mated queens. They found queens can distinguish their natal nest using cuticular hydrocarbons found on a substrate. Overall there was a preference for newly mated queens to choose a nest previously used by their natal nestmates. For queens adopted back into their natal nest within laboratory nests, a large majority of these queens were killed within the eight weeks. They concluded newly mated queens may preferentially re-inhabit their natal nest after mating, then subsequently leave before they are killed.

Nomenclature

 *  gredleri. Leptothorax gredleri Mayr, 1855: 438 (w.q.) AUSTRIA. Schenck, 1861: 196 (m.). Combination in L. (Mychothorax): Forel, 1915d: 26. Junior synonym of muscorum: Roger, 1862c: 296. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of muscorum: Forel, 1874: 87. Raised to species: Bondroit, 1918: 122. Subspecies of muscorum: Dalla Torre, 1893: 125; Emery, 1916b: 176; Emery, 1924d: 262; Stitz, 1939: 163; Novak & Sadil, 1941: 90. Junior synonym of muscorum: Brown, 1955a: 47 (in text). Revived from synonymy and status as species: Buschinger, 1966b: 165. See also: Bernard, 1967: 389; Baroni Urbani, 1971c: 98; Pisarski, 1975: 24; Kutter, 1977c: 129; Seifert, 2007: 225.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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