Lasius viehmeyeri

Identification
Boer (2003) - In the Stärcke Collection, which is part of the collection of the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum at Leiden, I discovered a worker of L. viehmeyeri which was labelled Lasius umbratus var. affinis Schenck, "Erber" and "Dalm.". Josef Erber (1924-1882) was a Viennese collector and merchant of insects. "Dalm" is the abbreviation for Dalmatia (= Croatia). It originates from the same area as the queen and male, described by Stärcke. No date of collection is given, but it should be before 1882 in view of the year of Erber's death.

The pubescense is relatively short and relatively sparse. The closest relatives are the Iberian species Lasius rabaudi and Lasius jensi because of the flattened scape and hind tibia. The scape of L. viehmeyeri is flatter, the maximum diameter of the scape at midpoint divided by the minimum diameter of scape at midpoint is 2.42, against 1.60 (n = 34) for L. rabaudi and 1.77 (n = 59) for L. jensi (Seifert, 1988). In lateral view the scale is relative thick and slightly swollen. The petiolar scale is completely different from the scale of L. jensi; in posterior view it has straight sides, as the queen. The dorsal face of the scape of L. jensi has decumbent pubescence and many (but sometimes with only a few) sub decumbent to erect setae. This worker of L. viehmeyeri has many sub erect and erect setae.

The average distance between the setae on the dorsum of the first tergite is 35 µm. L. rabaudi is the only species with a larger distance. The average distance in front of the anterior ocellus is 29 µm, in L. rabaudi it is 13 µm. The number of erect setae of the hind tibia in profile could not be determined, because of the glue, but it is more than 20. The length of the longest seta on the dorsal face of the first gastral tergite is 143 µm. The maximum width of the head is 1270 µm, which is much wider than for all other species in the subgenus Chthonolasius. The largest workers were up to now Lasius affinis (=Lasius citrinus). The ratio of the maximum length of the head divided by the maximum width of the head is 0.95. The length of the scape divided by the maximum length of the head is 0.91. The ratio of the median line length of the second funicular segment divided by its maximum width is 1.6.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Croatia, Greece, Romania.

Nomenclature

 *  viehmeyeri. Lasius umbratus var. viehmeyeri Emery, 1922b: 13, fig. 2 (w.q.) GREECE. Boer, 2003: 321 (w.). Combination in L. (Chthonolasius): Emery, 1925b: 234. Raised to species: Stärcke, 1937: 53. Junior synonym of umbratus: Wilson, 1955a: 152. Revived from synonymy and senior synonym of dalmatica: Seifert, 1990: 3, 11.
 * dalmatica. Lasius viehmeyeri var. dalmatica Stärcke, 1937: 53 (q.m.) YUGOSLAVIA. Junior synonym of umbratus: Wilson, 1955a: 152; of viehmeyeri: Seifert, 1990: 11.

Boer (2003) - Lasius umbratus var. viehmeyeri Emery, 1922 (Formicidae: Formicinae) has been redescribed by Seifert in 1990 as Lasius viehmeyeri. This redescription was based on the lectotype, a queen from Erymanthos, Greece collected at an altitude of 800-1000 m, August 1901 in wood ("Holtz"). The lectotype is deposited in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale at Genua. In 1937 Stärcke has given a detailed description of a queen and a male of Lasius viehmeyeri var. dalmatica nov. from the Dinaric Alps, collected by H.J. MacGillavry at Knin (E of Zarar, Croatia; 44°04'N 16°20'E). On account of this description, Seifert (1990) stated that Stärcke's queen is indeed a Lasius viehmeyeri. The male (in the collection of the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum at Leiden) has been labelled holotype of L. viehmeyeri dalmatica Stärcke, 1937, by Seifert in 1993. The queen is missing in this collection. Up to now the worker remained undescribed. However, Stärcke (1937) included L. viehmeyeri in his key to the workers. He used one character: the high, and a little emarginated scale. This is most likely after a drawing and the description of this scale by Emery (1922). Emery assigned this worker, collected by G. Cecconi on Cyprus, to L. viehmeyeri. However, the drawings and the description of this worker could be from several other species of the subgenus Chthonolasius.

The worker of L. viehrneyeri described by Emery belongs to another species than L. viehmeyeri, because the scape and the hind tibia are glabrous.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Boer P. 2003. First description of the worker caste of Lasius viehmeyeri Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zool. Meded. (Leiden) 77: 321-323.
 * Boer, P.. "First description of the worker caste of Lasius viehmeyeri Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Zool. Med. Leiden 77 (2003): 321-323.
 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
 * Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2017. Ants of the Peloponnese, Greece (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Polish Journal of Entomology 86: 193-236.
 * Bracko, G. 2006. Review of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) of Croatia. Acta Entomologica Slovenica 14(2): 131-156.
 * Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp