Camponotus dalmaticus

This species is distributed almost exclusively in southern Europe, although it can also be found in Switzerland, and occurs as far east as Asia Minor and the Near East (Radchenko 2007). It prefers warm habitats. (Marko et al., 2009)

Identification
Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - According to Radchenko (1997c), C. dalmaticus belongs to the Camponotus piceus complex of the Camponotus lateralis species group, together with Camponotus abrahami and Camponotus piceus. C. dalmaticus differs from C. abrahami (studied specimens from Lebanon identified by C.A. Collingwood), by the clypeus being incised anteromedially, as opposed to entire, by the presence of a metanotal groove, as opposed to a lack of such, and by a red mesosoma (at least pronotum), as opposed to a completely black mesosoma. It differs from C. piceus by the presence of a single transverse row of erect setae on the junction of the propodeal dorsum with declivity, as opposed to the erect setae scattered all over the propodeal dorsum in the latter species (see also Emery, 1925a). C. dalmaticus has the clypeus incised anteriorly and the arrangement pattern of the propodeal setae similar to Camponotus lateralis and Camponotus rebeccae but it differs from these species in its black head and gaster, whereas C. lateralis and C. rebeccae have the head always paler than the gaster. It further differs from C. rebeccae by its deeply impressed, as opposed to shallow, metanotal groove; a difference especially marked in major workers, by its propodeal dorsum flat or concave posteriorly, as opposed to convex, and by a slightly broader petiolar scale: the ratio of maximum petiolar width to pronotum width = 0.47–0.60 (n = 33), as opposed to 0.41–0.53 (n = 47).

Seifert, 2019: See key. Two major workers are depicted in AntWeb.org under CASENT0179601 (the most frequent color morph) and CASENT0906110 (the rare, entirely black color morph).

Distribution
Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - Mainly in southeastern Europe, although also found in Switzerland, Turkey (Asia Minor), and the Near East (Radchenko, 2007).

Marko et al. (2009) - In Romania this species is known from a single location: Mehadia (Mocsáry 1897) in Caraş-Severin County in southern Romania. The reference material could not be verified. C. dalmaticus has nonetheless clear morphological characters that could hardly allow its misidentification, and it is also present in neighbouring countries. We thus consider it as a likely species for Romania until further evidence is acquired.

Seifert, 2019: The range extends northwest over north Italy to south Switzerland. The northernmost site reported by Kutter (1977) is Ruvigliana near Lugano [46.00°N, 8.99° E, 400 m]. The species is unknown so far from Asia Minor.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey.

Nomenclature

 *  dalmaticus. Formica dalmatica Nylander, 1849: 37 (w.) YUGOSLAVIA. Forel, 1913d: 436 (q.m.). Combination in Camponotus: Mayr, 1863: 399; in C. (Orthonotomyrmex): Müller, 1923: 164; in C. (Myrmentoma): Menozzi, 1921: 32; Emery, 1925b: 120. Junior synonym of lateralis: Mayr, 1855: 322. Revived from synonymy as subspecies of lateralis: Forel, 1874: 40; Forel, 1892i: 306; Müller, 1923: 164; Emery, 1925a: 64. Revived status as species: Finzi, 1927b: 52; Finzi, 1930d: 318; Santschi, 1934d: 281; Kutter, 1977c: 207; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 58; Atanassov & Dlussky, 1992: 224. See also: Radchenko, 2007: 37.

Type Material
Seifert, 2019: Investigated were two syntypes on different pins, a major and minor worker, labeled ‘Lagusta \ Zeller \ Coll.Nyldr \ Lagosta [handwritten]\ H:fors Spec. typ. No 50** Formica dalmatica Nyl’, FMNH Helsinki. The syntypes have identical labels except for ‘Spec. typ. No’ which are ‘5089’ and ‘5090’ respectively.

Taxonomic Notes
Seifert, 2019: The syntypes represent typical specimens in shape, structure and pigmentation. Running them as wildcards in a 5-class LDA, they were allocated with a mean posterior probability of p = 0.9996 to the 24 nest samples classified here as C. dalmaticus, whereas all other four species with completely blackish vertex and low RipD presented in Tab. 3 were clearly excluded (for Camponotus ebneri).

Worker
Ionescu-Hirsch (2009) - TL = 4.3–6.1, HL = 1.04–1.70, HW = 0.87–1.52, EL = 0.25–0.33, SL = 1.02–1.30, ML = 1.48–2.03, PW = 0.74–1.07, mTbL = 0.81–1.09, hTbL = 1.04–1.50 (n = 15).

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