Tetramorium semilaeve

Tetramorium semilaeve prefers very warm and dry places. Most observed nests were located in the littoral zone on the flat, sandy areas covered with sparse vegetation or on stony pastures. The locality with the highest altitude in the examined material here is from Andalucia, Igualeja placed 720 m a.s.l. Sanetra et al. (1999) noted that in Italy most samples were collected below 1000 m a.s.l. and only occasionally above this altitude. All nests were located under stones, from small to very large size, and consisted of from several to several hundred workers. (Borowiec et al., 2015.)

Distribution
The concept of this taxon has change recently (Borowiec et al., 2015) and its distribution clarified. Previous occurrence records should be verified before being considered valid.

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

Fungi
This species is a host for the endoparastic fungus Myrmicinosporidium durum (Espadaler & Santamaria, 2012).

Nomenclature

 *  semilaeve. Tetramorium caespitum var. semilaeve André, 1883a: 286 (w.) Mediterranean region. Emery, 1891b: 2 (q.); Forel, 1902a: 148 (m.). Subspecies of caespitum: Forel, 1902a: 148; Forel, 1904b: 371; Emery, 1909d: 703; Emery, 1916b: 194; Santschi, 1921a: 111; Santschi, 1923a: 135; Menozzi, 1926b: 182; Emery, 1924a: 8. Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 134; Bondroit, 1918: 109; Müller, 1923: 104; Santschi, 1927a: 54; Santschi, 1929e: 150; Finzi, 1930d: 315; Santschi, 1931a: 10; Bernard, 1967: 234; Arnol'di & Dlussky, 1978: 545. Senior synonym of tenuicornis: Radchenko, 1992b: 51; of siciliense: Sanetra, Güsten & Schulz, 1999: 327; of banyulense: Casevitz-Weulersse & Galkowski, 2009: 497. Current subspecies: atlante, galaticum, hoggarense, italicum, judas, jugurtha, kutteri. See also: Emery, 1925c: 179; López, 1991a: 36; López, 1991b: 76; López, et al. 1992: 169; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 153; Radchenko, 1992b: 51.
 * tenuicornis. Tetramorium caespitum subsp. tenuicornis Emery, 1925c: 188, figs. B, D (w.m.) TRANSCASPIA. Junior synonym of semilaeve: Radchenko, 1992b: 51.
 * siciliense. Tetramorium semilaeve var. siciliense Santschi, 1927a: 56 (w.q.) ITALY (Sicily). Junior synonym of semilaeve: Sanetra, Güsten & Schulz, 1999: 327.
 * banyulense. Tetramorium banyulense Bernard, 1983: 98 (diagnosis in key) (w.m.) FRANCE. Junior synonym of semilaeve: Casevitz-Weulersse & Galkowski, 2009: 497.