Taxonomy of the Palearctic socially parasitic Temnothorax (Myrmoxenus) ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

PLoS One. 2024 Oct 18;19(10):e0308712. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308712. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

The ant genus Temnothorax is one of the most diverse in the Palearctic region, comprising several species with different life histories and uncertain taxonomic backgrounds. Socially parasitic Temnothorax ant species were typically described decades ago, primarily based on traditional morphological traits. In some aspects, these species have come back into the spotlight in recent years, necessitating a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the species of the genus. In this paper, we present a quantitative morphology-based taxonomic revision of the Temnothorax corsicus species group (formerly called Myrmoxenus genus) based on the analysis of 20 continuous morphometric traits collected from 394 worker and 19 traits from 473 gyne individuals belonging to 240 samples. Based on morphometric analyses, we propose junior synonymy for Temnothorax tamarae (Arnol'di, 1968) under T. ravouxi (André, 1896), and T. microcellatus (Soudek, 1925) is revived and is considered a senior synonym of T. menozzii (Finzi, 1924). Detailed descriptions, measurements, distribution, and host usage of all ten species are given. Dichotomous keys to workers, known gynes, and photographs of all species are presented.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ants* / classification
  • Female
  • Male

Grants and funding

This project has received funding from the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network. This research was supported by the National Research, Development, and Innovation Fund (Hungary) under Grant No. K 147781 (On behalf of SC). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme under grant agreement No. 2021-1-HU01-KA131-HED-000003804 and No. 2023-1-HU01-KA131-HED-000119494 (on behalf of FB). This research was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) under the project no: 111T811, and the Scientific Research Project Unit of Trakya University (TÜBAP) with the project no: 2016-248 and 2019-179 (On behalf of KK and CK). This research was co-financed by tax money on the basis of the state budget passed by the Sächsischer Landtag according to the Antragsnummer 100590787 of the Sächsische Aufbaubank issued 3 August 2021 (on behalf of BS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.