Temnothorax nylanderi

Identification
Yellow to pale yellowish brown, the head sometimes darker, broadly infuscate on the first gaster segment. Antennae including clubs and legs concolorous with the rest of the body. Head longitudinally striate. alitrunk finely rugose, gaster smooth. Legs without erect hairs. Antennae twelve segmented; mesopropodeal impression distinct and clearly visible in side view. Length: 2.3-3.4 mm (Collingwood 1979).

Distribution
Central and South Europe from Spain to Caucasus, north to South Sweden (Collingwood 1979).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Iberian Peninsula, Jersey, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Biology
Collingwood (1979) - This species is immediately distinguishable from all other North European Leptothorax with twelve segmented antennae in the worker caste by the distinct mesopropodeal suture seen as a clear depression in the dorsal profile. It is normally a woodland bark-inhabiting species but occasionally nests under stones or inside acorns. Its morphology and biology in France where it is common, has been intensively studied by Plateaux (1970). The species is normally monogynous with between 100 and 200 workers. Is is somewhat more aggressive than Leptothorax acervorum and despite its small size will attack and sting freely. Alate queens and males are developed during July and flights occur during early August.

Castes
A feature of T. nylanderi is the study of rare morphological anomalies that are intermediate between the queen and worker phenotypes (Plateaux 1970). A large number of such "intercastes" were investigated with multivariate morphometry (Okada et al. 2013), showing how caste-specific modules (i.e. specific to workers and winged queens) are shuffled to give a mosaic phenotype (intercastes).





Nomenclature

 *  nylanderi. Myrmica nylanderi Foerster, 1850a: 53 (m.) GERMANY. Mayr, 1855: 447 (w.q.). Combination in Leptothorax: Mayr, 1855: 447; in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 271. Subspecies of tuberum: Forel, 1874: 84; Emery & Forel, 1879: 459; André, 1883a: 300; Forel, 1890a: lxxv; Emery, 1891b: 6; Ruzsky, 1905b: 597; Bondroit, 1910: 496. Status as species: Saunders, E. 1880: 219; Nasonov, 1889: 32; Dalla Torre, 1893: 125; Ruzsky, 1902d: 23; Bondroit, 1911: 12; Stitz, 1914: 64; Forel, 1915d: 22; Donisthorpe, 1915d: 155; Bondroit, 1918: 122; Menozzi, 1922b: 329; Karavaiev, 1926f: 69; Finzi, 1930d: 315; Karavaiev, 1934: 137; Stitz, 1939: 179; Boven, 1947: 178; Kutter, 1977c: 133; Collingwood, 1979: 74; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 139. Senior synonym of cingulata: Mayr, 1855: 447; of nylanderotuberum: Radchenko, 1995d: 3; of nylanderocorticalis: Kutter, 1977c: 14. Current subspecies: nominal plus nylanderonigriceps. See also: Radchenko, 2000: 43.
 * cingulata. Myrmica cingulata Schenck, 1852: 104 (w.q.m.) GERMANY. [Also described as new by Schenck, 1853: 188.] Junior synonym of nylanderi: Mayr, 1855: 447.
 * nylanderocorticalis. Leptothorax tuberum var. nylanderocorticalis Forel, 1874: 86 (w.) SWITZERLAND. Emery, 1916b: 183, 186 (in keys) (w.q., respectively). Raised to species: Bondroit, 1918: 124. Subspecies of corticalis: Forel, 1915d: 22 (in key); Emery, 1924d: 254; Stitz, 1939: 176; Novak & Sadil, 1941: 92. Junior synonym of nylanderi: Kutter, 1977c: 14.
 * nylanderotuberum. Leptothorax nylanderi var. nylanderotuberum Ruzsky, 1902d: 23 (w.) RUSSIA. Junior synonym of nylanderi: Radchenko, 1995d: 3.