Formica subpilosa

This ant has been associated with a butterfly species that has recently been split into two species: Polyommatus icarus and Polyommatus celin. Presently it is unclear if this association is between F. rufibarus and one or the other of these species, or both (Obregon et al. 2015).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

Nomenclature

 *  subpilosa. Formica rufibarbis subsp. subpilosa Ruzsky, 1902b: 472 (w.) RUSSIA. Karavaiev, 1910b: 17 (q.m.). Combination in F. (Serviformica): Emery, 1925b: 250. Raised to species: Bondroit, 1918: 51; Collingwood, 1961a: 70. Junior synonym of rufibarbis: Bernard, 1967: 297. Revived from synonymy, with status as species: Dlussky, 1965a: 28; Dlussky, 1967a: 70; Tarbinsky, 1976: 189. Senior synonym of bipilosa and material of the unavailable names clara, fallax referred here: Dlussky, 1965a: 28. Material of the unavailable name subpilosoclara referred here by Dlussky, 1967a: 70. See also: Seifert & Schultz, 2008: 79.
 * bipilosa. Formica (Serviformica) cinerea var. bipilosa Karavaiev, 1926e: 199 (w.) RUSSIA. Raised to species: Collingwood, 1961a: 70; Collingwood, 1961b: 289. Junior synonym of subpilosa: Dlussky, 1965a: 28.