Temnothorax gracilicornis

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Canary Islands.

Biology
Espadaler (2007) - Three colonies from this Canarian endemic were collected: two were nesting under mosses on a stone; the third was nesting under a small stone. The morphology and coloration of workers and queens fits the description of T. gracilicornis, not of the darker and shinier var. nivarianus, that Wellenius (1955) collected at Frontera. As I have not seen type material of both taxa and samples from Tenerife show varying coloration—from yellow to brownish, thus including both names—and body surface shininess, I refer the samples of El Hierro to the nominal species. This is not a formal proposal of synonymy.

Nomenclature

 *  gracilicornis. Leptothorax gracilicornis Emery, 1882: 450, fig. (w.q.) SPAIN (Canary Is). Combination in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 271. Current subspecies: nominal plus nivarianus.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Barquín, J. Las hormigas de Canarias. Taxonomia, ecologia y distribucion de los Formicidae In Secretariado de publicaciones de la Universidad de La Laguna, Colección Monografías Nº 3. Tenerife: Universidad de La Laguna, 1981.
 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Emery, C. "Le crociere dell'yacht "Corsaro" del capitano armatore Enrico d'Albertis. II. Formiche." Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale 18 (1882): 448-452.
 * Espadaler, X. "The ants of El Hierro (Canary Islands)." Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80 (2007): 113-127.
 * Espadaler, Xavier. 2007. The Ants of El Hierro (Canary Islands) in Snelling. pp. 113-127
 * Espadaler, Xavier. 2007. The Ants of El Hierro (Canary Islands). Memoirs of the AMer113-127.
 * Hohmann H., F. La Roche, G. Ortega, and J. Barquín. 1993. Bienen, Wespen und Ameisen der Kanarischen Inseln. Veröff. Überseemus. Bremen Naturwiss. 12: 14.
 * Santschi, F. "Nouvelles fourmis de l'Afrique du Nord (Égypte, Canaries, Tunisie)." Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 77 (1908): 517-534.
 * Wellenius, O. H. "Entomologische Ergebnisse der finnländischen Kanaren-Expedition 1947-1951. No. 10. Formicidae Insularum Canariensium. Systematik, Ökologie und Verbreitung der Kanarischen Formiciden." Commentationes Biologicae Societas Scienitarum Fennica 15(8) (1955): 1-20.