Proformica ferreri

Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran in a montane area with moderate rainfall.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Iberian Peninsula, Iran, Spain.

Biology
Larger workers can have greatly distended gasters and function as repletes.

One colony excavated in the Sierra Nevada at the end of winter (15 April 2008) comprised 1426 workers and 7 large sexual larvae. A queen was not found and there was no other brood (A. Tinaut & C. Peeters, unpublished). Most of the largest workers (= 219) had distended gasters; three were dissected and had yolky oocytes in their ovaries.



Nomenclature

 *  ferreri. Proformica ferreri Bondroit, 1918: 41 (w.m.) SPAIN. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1982: 176 (l.). Subspecies of nasuta: Santschi, 1919e: 246; Menozzi, 1922b: 332; Santschi, 1931a: 13. Revived status as species: Bernard, 1967: 285.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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 * AntArea. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://antarea.fr/fourmi/
 * Antarea (at www.antarea.fr on June 11th 2017)
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 * Bernard F. 1967. Faune de l'Europe et du Bassin Méditerranéen. 3. Les fourmis (Hymenoptera Formicidae) d'Europe occidentale et septentrionale. Paris: Masson, 411 pp.
 * Bernard F. 1975. Données nouvelles sur l'écologie de la fourmi Proformica ferreri Bondroit., avec références particulières aux ouvrières nourrices. Insectes Sociaux 22: 151-168.
 * Bonaric J. C. 1971. Contribution a l'etude systematique et ecologique des formicides du Bas-Languedoc. PhD thesis Universite des sciences et techniques du Languedoc, 175 pages.
 * Bonaric J. C. 1971. Étude systématique et ecologique des fourmis de lHérault (suite). Ann. Soc. Hortic. Hist. Nat. Hérault 111: 119-126.
 * Bondroit, J. "Les fourmis de France et de Belgique." Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 87 (1918): 1-174.
 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Buren W. F. 1983. Artificial faunal replacement for imported fire ant control. Florida Entomologist 66: 93-100.
 * Casevitz-Weulersse J., and C. Galkowski. 2009. Liste actualisee des Fourmis de France (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 114: 475-510.
 * Collingwood C., and A. Prince. 1998. A guide to ants of continental Portugal (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Boletim da Sociedade Portuguesa de Entomologia. Suplemento 5: 1-49.
 * Collingwood, C. A., and I. H. H. Yarrow. "A survey of Iberian Formicidae." EOS (Revista española de entomología) 44 (1969): 53-101.
 * Collingwood, C. A. "A provisional list of Iberian Formicidae with a key to the worker caste." EOS (Revista española de entomología) Nº LVII (1978): 65-95.
 * Della Santa E. 1995. Fourmis de Provence. Faune Provence 16: 5-37.
 * Espadaler, X. "Formícidos de los alrededores de la laguna de Sariñena (Huesca). Descripción del macho de Camponotus foreli Emery." Colección Estudios Altoaragoneses 6 (1986): 109-126.
 * Obregon R., J. Lopez, J. L. Reyes-Lopez. 2014. A catalogue of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Sierra Mágina (Jaén, southern Spain). Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (S.E.A.), 54: 370374.
 * Pashaei Rad S., B. Taylor, R. Torabi, E. Aram, G. Abolfathi, R. Afshari, F. Borjali, M. Ghatei, F. Hediary, F. Jazini, V. Heidary Kiah, Z. Mahmoudi, F. Safariyan, and M. Seiri. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 64(2): 145-159.
 * Reyes-López, J., J. López-Tirado, and R. Obregón-Romero. "Nuevas citas de hormigas parásitas y esclavistas (Hym., Formicidae) para Sierra Mágina (Andalucía)." Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología 35, no. 3-4 (2011): 497-501.
 * Sanchez-Gil Jimeno R., and J. L. Reyes-Lopez. 2016. Study of ants species of the Sierra de San Carlos del Valle (Ciudad Real) and updating the provincial check list (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent. 40 (1-2): 93-109.
 * Sanllorente O., P. Lorite, F. Ruano, T. Palomeque, and A. Tinaut. 2017. Phylogenetic relationships between the slave-making ants Rossomyrmex and their Proformica hosts in relation to other genera of the ant tribe Formicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J Zool Syst Evol Res. 1–13.
 * Tinaut A. 2016. Ants of the Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Mountains Natural Park (Andalusia, Spain) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Boln. Asoc. esp. Ent., 40 (1-2): 125-159.