Crematogaster lorteti

This species is known from the north-eastern and eastern Mediterranean regions. It is a rare species in Greece, known from Aegean Islands, Macedonia, Sterea Ellas, Thrace and Peloponnese. It prefers warm habitats overgrown with mediterranean herbs and shrubs. Nests located in ground or under stones (Borowiec & Salata, 2021). The records of Crematogaster auberti from Struma Valley in Bulgaria (Lapeva-Gjonova 2011) should be assigned to C. lorteti (Lapeva-Gjonova & Borowiec, 2022).

Distribution
This is a rare species, known from a few localities in the Aegean Islands, Macedonia, Sterea Ellas, Thessaly and Thrace (Borowiec et al., 2022).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Greece, Israel, Montenegro, Syria, Turkey.

Nomenclature

 * . Crematogaster lorteti Forel, 1910e: 435 (w.q.) SYRIA.
 * Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated), 1 syntype queen.
 * Type-locality: Syria: Damas (= Damascus) (L. Lortet).
 * Type-depository: MHNG.
 * Combination in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 143.
 * Status as species: Emery, 1912e: 665; Wheeler, W.M. & Mann, 1916: 170; Emery, 1922e: 143; Menozzi, 1933b: 59; Santschi, 1934d: 276; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987a: 54; Agosti & Collingwood, 1987b: 272 (in key); Kugler, J. 1988: 258; Bolton, 1995b: 156; Petrov, 2006: 94 (in key); Vonshak, et al. 2009: 42; Karaman, M.G. 2011b: 23; Legakis, 2011: 13; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2012: 489; Kiran & Karaman, 2012: 18; Borowiec, L. 2014: 67 (see note in bibliography); Tohmé, G. & Tohmé, 2014: 135; Lebas, et al. 2016: 274; Salata & Borowiec, 2015a: 76 (in key); Salata & Borowiec, 2018c: 44; Borowiec, L. & Salata, 2020: 8.
 * Distribution: Greece, Israel, Serbia, Syria, Turkey.
 * Current subspecies: nominal plus hellenica.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * Borowiec L., and S. Salata. 2012. Ants of Greece - Checklist, comments and new faunistic data (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus 23(4): 461-563.
 * Bracko G., K. Kiran, C. Karaman, S. Salata, and L. Borowiec. 2016. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Greek Thrace. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7945. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e7945
 * Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
 * Forel A. 1910. Note sur quelques fourmis d'Afrique. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 54: 421-458.
 * Kugler J. 1988. The zoogeography of Israel. 9. The zoogeography of social insects of Israel and Sinai. Monographiae biologicae 62: 251-275.
 * Martinez J. J. 2008. Firebreaks in planted pine forests in Israel: patches for Mediterranean Bata ants. Vie et Milieu 58(3/4): 233-236.
 * Salata S., and L Borowiec. 2017. Species of Tetramorium semilaeve complex from Balkans and western Turkey, with description of two new species of (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 62:279–313.
 * Salata S., and L. Borowiec. 2018. Taxonomic and faunistic notes on Greek ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom Entomology 27: 1-51.
 * Santschi, F.. "Fourmis d'une croisière." Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique (Bruxelles) 74 (1934): 273-282.
 * Tohme G. 1996. Formicidae. Etude de la diversité biologique n° 4 . Ministère de lAgriculture à Beyrouth (Eds.). P85-87.
 * Vonshak M., and A. Ionescu-Hirsch. 2009. A checklist of the ants of Israel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Israel Journal of Entomology 39: 33-55.
 * Wheeler W. M. and W. M. Mann. 1916. The ants of the Phillips Expedition to Palestine during 1914. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 60: 167-174.
 * Wheeler W. M., and W. M. Mann. 1916. The ants of the Phillips Expedition to Palestine during 1914. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 60: 167-174.