Temnothorax obturator

Mackay (2000) "Colonies are found in live oak galls (Quercus virginiana Mill.) or hollow twigs of the wafer ash and ironwood (Wheeler, 1903a; Moody and Francke, 1982; Longino and Wheeler, 1987; Wheeler and Longino,1988). Nests are monogynous (Frumhof and Ward, 1992). The female enters the gall, plugs the entrance and begins egg laying. Later the workers open gall, but the entrance hole is so small, the queen remains trapped in the gall. Sexuals appear in nests in late May, but it is not clear how the virgin females exit through the tiny exit hole. Nests contain up to 36 or 40 workers. They are extremely hostile to workers from other nests."



Identification
Mackay (2000) "The peculiar propodeal spines united by a carina easily distinguish this species from all other known North American Leptothorax. The petiolar node is also rounded and poorly defined, which will also help separate it from other species in the genus. The propodeum is lower than the mesonotum and appears depressed. The antenna has 12 segments."

Range
USA. Central Texas.

Abundance
xxxxx

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Biology
xxxxx At present we known nothing beyond the type information for Temnothorax obturator . This ant was once a member of the now synonymized subgenus Myrafant and we can speculate that the biology of this species will be found to be like many other similar forms from North America:

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Original Combination
Leptothorax obturator Wheeler, W.M. 1903c: 249, pl. 12, fig. 19 (w.q.m.) U.S.A. Wheeler, W.M. 1903f: 662 (gynandromorph); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1955b: 24 (l.). Combination in L. (Myrafant): Smith, D.R. 1979: 1394; in Temnothorax: Bolton, 2003: 271. See also: MacKay, 2000: 382.

Type Material
As reported in Mackay (2000) "AMNH, MCZC [seen]"