Aphaenogaster festae

In Greece, Aphaenogaster festae is a common ant. It nests in various habitats, mostly under stones in unshaded pine forests but has also been observed in suburban areas overgrown by macchia, ruderal areas in tourist resorts and in stream valleys with plane-tree or other deciduous forest stands. These ants are likely nocturnal, as workers have never been observed during the day. The Bulgarian record is the northernmost record in Europe of A. festae (Borowiec et al., 2019).

Identification
A member of the Aphaenogaster splendida species group (sensu Schulz, 1994; Borowiec et al., 2019).

Distribution
Known from  Bulgaria, Greece (East Aegean Islands and Dodecanese) and western Turkey. A record from Iraq of this species requires conﬁrmation (Borowiec, 2014; Borowiec et al., 2019).

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

Nomenclature

 *  festae. Aphaenogaster splendida subsp. festae Emery, 1915h: 2 (w.) GREECE. Menozzi, 1936d: 270 (q.). Combination in Aphaenogaster (Attomyrma): Emery, 1921f: 60. Raised to species: Arnol'di, 1976b: 1024 (in key); Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 53.