Camponotus aegaeus

A ground-nesting species.

Identification
Salata et al. (2019) - A member of the Camponotus kiesenwetteri group. Head, mesosoma, and gaster uniformly blackish-brown to black; metanotal groove absent; propodeum without posterior protrusion; body densely punctate, appears dull; base of scape without extension; whole body bears long, thick, pale, dense and erect setae, and short appressed microsetae; petiolar scale thin (PI > 1.50).

The almost completely blackish-brown to black body and regularly arched (in lateral view) mesosoma cluster this species with Camponotus libanicus. At first glance both species look extremely similar. The most relevant character distinguishing both taxa is the shape of petiolar scale. Camponotus aegaeus has a thin scale (PI > 1.50) with a feebly convex anterior surface, while in C. libanicus the scale is thick (PI < 1.42) with a strongly convex anterior surface.

Distribution
Salata et al. (2019) - Greece: North Aegean Islands, South Aegean Islands (Dodecanese), Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace; Turkey: Adana, Afyon, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bilecik, Bursa, Çanakkale, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, İzmir, Kırklareli, Kütahya, Manisa, Muğla, Sakarya, Uşak, and Yalova. The species was also recorded from North Macedonia (Bračko et al. 2014) and Bulgaria (Lapeva-Gjonova 2010).

The kiesenwetteri species group contains taxa of the subgenus Myrmentoma that are distributed almost exclusively in the Aegean. The two exceptions, Camponotus aegaeus and Camponotus libanicus, collectively extend the group's distributional range into Asia Minor and the Near East. These two species appear to be vicariant taxa, with C. aegaeus to the west and C. libanicus to the east. Niche modeling for both species show similar areas with high suitability, especially along the south coast of Turkey and Cyprus. However, C. aegaeus has not been recorded from the island. Solar radiation was the variable that contributed the most to the niche model of C. aegaeus.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland, Turkey.

Biology
See the Camponotus kiesenwetteri species group page for information about the biology of C. aegaeus.

Nomenclature

 * . Camponotus (Orthonotomyrmex) libanicus var. aegaea Emery, 1915h: 4, figs. 1, 2 (s.w.q.m.) GREECE (Rhodes I.).
 * Combination in C. (Myrmentoma): Emery, 1925b: 121.
 * Subspecies of libanicus: Emery, 1925b: 121; Menozzi, 1936d: 304; Bolton, 1995b: 84.
 * Status as species: Radchenko, 1996b: 1197 (in key); Radchenko, 1997b: 705; Lapeva-Gjonova, et al. 2010: 41; Legakis, 2011: 28; Karaman, C. et al. 2011: 185; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 470; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 5; Karaman, C. & Aktaç, 2013: 50 (in key); Borowiec, L. 2014: 25; Bračko, et al. 2014: 18; Lebas, et al. 2016: 136; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2018: 4; Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 43; Salata, Loss, et al. 2019: 90.

Type Material
Salata et al. (2019) - Syntype workers, queen, Isola Rodi, Greece (Festa),, Syntype worker images, AntWeb, CASENT0905395.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * 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. 2018. Notes on ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Samos Island, Greece. Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-13.
 * Bracko G., H. C. Wagner, A. Schulz, E. Gioahim, J. Maticic, and A. Tratnik. 2014. New investigation and a revised checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Republic of Macedonia. North-Western Journal of Zoology 10(1): 10-24.
 * Bracko G., H. C. Wagner, E. Gioahin, J. Maticic, and A. Tratnik. 2011. Contribution to the knowledge of the ant fauna of the southeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. Entomologica romanica 16: 54.
 * Bracko G., K. Kiran, C. Karaman, S. Salata, and L. Borowiec. 2016. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Greek Thrace. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7945. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e7945
 * 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
 * Emery, C. "Escursioni zoologiche del Dr. Enrico Festa nell'Isola di Rodi. XII. Formiche." Bollettino del Museo di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparatadella Reale Università di Torino 30 (1915): 1-7.
 * Hamann H. H. F., and W. Klemm. 1976. Ergebnisse der von Dr. O. Paget und Dr. E. Kritscher auf Rhodos durchgeführten zoologischen Exkursionen. XVI. Formicidae. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 80: 669-679.
 * Karaman C., N. Aktac, and K. Kiran. 2009. Ants of the genus CamponotusMayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Kaz Mountains, Turkey, with descriptions of sexuals of Camponotus candiotes Emery, 1894 and Camponotus ionius Emery, 1920. Tubitak 35(2): 183-197.
 * Kiran K., and N. Aktac. 2006. The vertical distribution of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Samanh Mountains, Turkey. Linzer Biol. Beitr. 38(2): 1105-1122.
 * Lapeva-Gjonova, A. "First records of three ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Bulgaria." Myrmecological News 14 (2010): 1-3.
 * Lapeva-Gjonova, L., V. Antonova, A. G. Radchenko, and M. Atanasova. "Catalogue of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Bulgaria." ZooKeys 62 (2010): 1-124.
 * Menozzi C. 1929. Ricerche faunistiche nelle isole italiane dell'Egeo. Imenotteri (formiche). Archivio Zoologico Italiano. 13: 145-146.
 * Radchenko A. G. 1997. A review of ants of the subgenus Myrmentoma, Genus Camponotus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), from Asian Palaearctic. Entomological Review 77(8): 1050-1059.
 * Salata S., A. C. Loss, C. Karaman, K. Kiran, and L. Borowiec. 2019. Review of the Camponotus kiesenwetteri group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Aegean with the description of a new species. ZooKeys 899: 85-107.
 * Salata S., and L Borowiec. 2017. Species of Tetramorium semilaeve complex from Balkans and western Turkey, with description of two new species of (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 62:279–313.
 * Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2018. Taxonomic and faunistic notes on Greek ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-51.
 * Tausan I., and A. Lapeva-Gjonova. 2017. Camponotus samius Forel, 1889 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) – at the north edge of its European distribution. North-Western Journal of Zoology: e177201
 * Vieira de Oliveira J. A., D. Martins da Silva, and F. A. Santana. 2014. Ant species diversity in ciliary forest and gallery forest areas in central Brazil. Advances in Entomology 2(1): 24-32.