Crematogaster schmidti

The most common species of Crematogaster in the mediterranean and submediterranean part of Montenegro.

Distribution
Karaman (2010) - Northern bank of Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, from Slovenia in the west to Ukraine in the east. Altitude: 0-800 m a.s.l.

Crematogaster schmidti and Crematogaster scutellaris are allopatric species. The transgression zone between the two species is the region from Slovenia (east slopes of Julian Alpes) to the Adriatic coast of Croatia (Dalmatia), and the southeast Bosnia and Herzegovina. The two species do not hybridize because no intermediate forms have been found in the transgression zone [the territory of former Yugoslavia] (Atanassov & Dlusskij, 1992). Based on the current distribution of C. schmidti and C. scutellaris, we are expecting C. scutellaris to be found in Slovenia, and rejecting the possibility of the same species being present in Montenegro.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine.

Biology
Karaman (2010) - During our field work we observed that colonies of C. schmidti were active during the whole 24h period from May until September. Workers often tend aphids and form a line to the nest. Colonies are found at the base of trees and shrubs, in cavities of threes and sedges or in dead wood. When nests are disturbed workers emerge in great numbers and are very aggressive; they usually bite with mandibles and rarely exude quantities of liquid from the tip of the gaster.

Nomenclature

 *  schmidti. Acrocoelia schmidti Mayr, 1853a: 149 (w.q.) AUSTRIA. Ruzsky, 1905b: 491 (m.). Combination in Crematogaster: Mayr, 1855: 469; in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 143; in C. (Crematogaster): Bolton, 1995b: 166. Junior synonym of scutellaris: Mayr, 1855: 469; Lucas, 1856: xxi; Mayr, 1863: 405. Revived from synonymy: Emery, 1891b: 14; Dalla Torre, 1893: 85. Subspecies of scutellaris: Ruzsky, 1905b: 491; Forel, 1911d: 340; Emery, 1912e: 654; Emery, 1914d: 157; Santschi, 1929e: 148. Junior synonym of scutellaris: Baroni Urbani, 1964a: 4. Revived from synonymy and revived status as species: Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 54. Senior synonym of christowitchii, medispina: Emery, 1922e: 143, the latter confirmed in Müller, 1923: 72; of karawaewi: Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 184.
 * christowitchii. Crematogaster scutellaris var. christowitchii Forel, 1892i: 316 (w.) BULGARIA. Junior synonym of schmidti: Emery, 1922e: 143.
 * karawaewi. Crematogaster auberti subsp. karawaewi Ruzsky, 1905b: 497 (w.) UKRAINE. Combination in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 142. Subspecies of inermis: Emery, 1926: 3; of auberti: Arnol'di & Dlussky, 1978: 538. Junior synonym of schmidti: Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 184.
 * medispina. Crematogaster scutellaris var. medispina Forel, 1905b: 178 (w.q.) ITALY. Junior synonym of schmidti: Emery, 1922e: 143; Müller, 1923: 72.

Worker
Karaman (2010) - TL 4.6mm, 4.0mm, 3.5mm, 3.2mm; HW 1119.25, 971.25, 943.50, 841.75; HL 1045.25, 915.75, 888.00, 814.00; CI 107.08, 106.06, 106.25, 103.41; SL 823.25, 749.25, 730.75, 647.50; SI 73.55, 77.14, 77.45, 76.92; LM 1147.00, 1017.50, 962.00, 915.75; PS 203.50, 180.37, 148.00, 129.50; A10 296.00, 259.00, 286.75, 212.75; A9 166.50, 148.00, 129.50, 138.75; A8 157.25, 115.63, 92.50, 120.25; DBT 545.75, 471.75, 388.50, 360.75; PW 388.50, 323.75, 342.25, 268.25; PPW 333.0, 296.00, 268.25, 231.25; PI 116.66, 109.37, 127.58, 116.00; PPI 29.75, 30.47, 28.43, 27.47; PnW 582.75, 518.00, 499.50, 416.25.

The head, thorax and petiole yellow-reddish. Postpetiole unicolor with abdomen – dark brown to black. Face of head is gently longitudinally striated, heavily structured between upper edge of mandible and lower margin of eye. Dorsally, thorax with strong rugulae, smooth and shiny portion restricted on infraspinal area. Promesonotal keel is well developed, propodeal suture strongly impressed. Propodeal spines long, straight, regularly tapering from base to tip. Their length is 2.3-2.5 times as long as their basal width. Whole body covered with appressed pubescence, these hairs are separated at their bases by a distance equal to the length of hairs. Scapes with abundant, long subdecumbent pubescence. Several outstanding long setae may be present on anterior border of clypeus, dorsal face of pronotum, petiole nodes and abdomen. Variability in general body colour of workers from different colonies is usual, from yellow-reddish to dark reddish head, thorax and petiole, dark brown to black postpetiole and gaster.

Queen
Karaman (2010) - TL 9.0mm, 8.7mm, 8.3mm; HW 1628.00, 1595.44, 1725.68; HL 1448.92, 1432.64, 1465.20; CI 112.35, 111.36, 117.77; SL 1009.36, 1015.15, 1053.70; SI 62.00, 63.62, 61.05; OL 97.68, 120.25, 120.25; LM 3.16 mm, 3.05, 2.9mm; PS 257.00, 203.5, 203.5.

Head reddish-brown, rest of the body dark brown. Head wider than pronotum. Mandibles with slight longitudinal rugulae. Masticatory border with five teeth. Apical tooth is the biggest, with sharp tip. Other teeth are smaller and subequal. Lower part of head longitudinally striated, upper part smooth and shining. Thorax, in lateral view, with straight dorsal edge, propodeum is long and narrow and drops steeply from the scutellum. In contrast with workers, thorax is not strongly sculptured dorsally, somewhat gentle striae may be developed. Meso- and metasternum faintly striated, episternum and pronotum smooth. Propodeal spines acute, triangular, the same length as their width at the base. Whole body with appressed, long pubescence. Antennae with suberected, and legs with appressed pilosity. Scarce, long, erected setae present on the anterior of the head, dorsally on scutum, scutellum, epinotum and petiole node. Abdominal tergites with moderately abundant erected setae at their posterior borders. Wings with yellow-brown shade, wing venation brown.

Male
Karaman (2010) - Measurements: TL 3.9mm, 3.9mm, 3.7mm; HW 693.75, 666.0, 675.25; HL 582.75, 545.75, 582.75; CI 119.04, 122.03, 115.87; SL 157.25, 138.75, 157.25; SI 22.66, 20.83, 23.29; OL 83.25, 83.25, 83.25; LM 1725.68, 1546.60, 1595.44; PS 0, 0, 0.

Whole body dark brown, covered with short appressed pubescence. Apical tooth on mandibles is the largest and with a sharp tip, the second one is slightly smaller than the first one; the third and the fourth tooth are the least developed, very small and blunt (Fig. 1D). Several setae, shorter than in Crematogaster gordani Karaman, 2008, are present on external side of each mandible. All three ocelli are equal in size. Propodeal spines are not developed, propodeum bituberculate. Pronotum, scutum and scutellum smooth and shining, Mayers line is not prominent. One longitudinal line divides scutum into a left and a right part. This line finishes at a deep notch in the posterior border of scutum. Meso-, meta- and episternum faintly horizontally striated. Wings achromatic, and wing venation dark brown. External paramera (stipes) with numerous setae over entire external area. Subgenital plate triangular, with almost strait borders and blunt apex. Apex covered with about 40 setae. Penis valve with 10-12 teeth.