Camponotus atricolor

This species is mainly distributed in southern and central Europe and in the southern part of eastern Europe (Seifert 2007) and Turkey. It is a xerothermophilous species living mostly in open, dry grasslands, with nests built in the ground. Workers are highly polymorphic. (Marko et al., 2009)

Distribution
Marko et al. (2009) - In Romania the occurrence of C. atricolor is reported only from Dobrogea region near the Black Sea (Forel 1906) and from Comana, Giurgiu County, southern Romania (Montandon and Santschi 1910). More recently Gallé et al. (2005) also mention the occurrence of intermediate C. piceus/atricolor specimens from Munar and Bezdin (Secusigiu village), Arad County, western Romania, while reporting the occurrence of C. atricolor sensu Seifert (2007) in the bordering Hungarian region. Based on personal collections from the same region we can also confirm the occurrence of C. atricolor sensu Seifert (2007) in Arad County, although the morphometric data prove its intermediate state: 6 worker, Nădab, Arad County, RO, 20.05.2007, leg. B. Markó, mean PW/PL = 0.739 (±0.06), mean PEW/MW = 0.53 (±0.027).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Russian Federation.

Nomenclature

 *  atricolor. Formica atricolor Nylander, 1849: 36 (w.) RUSSIA. Combination in Camponotus: Roger, 1863b: 1; in C. (Myrmentoma): Emery, 1925a: 67; Emery, 1925b: 120. Junior synonym of lateralis: Mayr, 1855: 322; Roger, 1863b: 1. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of lateralis: Forel, 1892i: 306; Ruzsky, 1905b: 254; Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929b: 36. Junior synonym of piceus: Dalla Torre, 1893: 238. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of piceus: Emery, 1925a: 63; Karavaiev, 1927c: 277. Subspecies of merulus: Novak & Sadil, 1941: 109. Junior synonym of merulus: Bernard, 1967: 344. Revived from synonymy and revived status as species: Arnol'di & Dlussky, 1978: 552; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 58. Senior synonym of rectus: Emery, 1896d: 373; Karavaiev, 1936: 191. Junior synonym of piceus: Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 222; Radchenko, 1997b: 706; Radchenko, 2007: 37. Revived status as species: Seifert, 2007: 155 (in key).

Taxonomic Notes
Marko et al. (2009) - This species has a controversial status. Atanassov and Dlusskij (1992) synonymized it with Campontous piceus due to their findings of intermediate morphs between the two species concerning the depth of the mesopropodeal furrow. A. Radchenko (pers. comm.) also supports this hypothesis on the basis of type material investigation of C. atricolor. Thus, several authors treat it as junior synonym of C. piceus (Radchenko 1997a, Bolton et al. 2006, Werner and Wiezik 2007), while other specialists consider it a valid species (Steiner et al. 2002, Gallé et al. 2005, Seifert 2007). This morph shows clear differences from C. piceus in characters other than just the depth of mesopropodeal furrow (see also Emery 1925), suggesting Camponotus crypsis. Further investigation should elucidate the taxonomic status of the ‘atricolor’ morph.