Tetramorium caespitum (L.)

Bolton, B., 1979, The ant tribe Tetramoriini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The genus Tetramorium Mayr in the Malagasy region and in the New World., Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 38, pp. 129-181 : 171

publication ID

6435

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6282978

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/FA45F5CB-6592-6EE0-B856-03E9B7A69455

treatment provided by

Christiana

scientific name

Tetramorium caespitum (L.)
status

 

Tetramorium caespitum (L.) View in CoL View at ENA   HNS

(Figs 37, 49)

Formica caespitum L., 1758: 581   HNS . Holotype female, Europe (' in Europae tuberibus') (holotype not in Linnean Society collection, London). Tetramorium caespitum (L.)   HNS ; Mayr, 1855: 426. Tetramorium caespitum var. immigrans Santschi, 1927: 54   HNS . Syntype workers, Chile: Valparaiso (Miss Edwards) (probably in NM, Basle; not seen). Syn. n. Myrmica (Myrmica) brevinodis var. transversinodis Enzmann, 1946: 47   HNS , figs 1, 2. Holotype worker, _ U. S. A.: Massachusetts, Dedham (in private coll. J. Enzmann ; not seen). [Synonymy by Brown, 1949: 47; also Creighton, 1950: 291.]

Worker. With the group characters given above; the head densely and finely longitudinally rugulose everywhere. Spaces between rugulae with feeble ground sculpture, mostly shining. Head without unsculptured patches, without reticular or rugoreticular sculpture. Dorsal alitrunk longitudinally rugulose but on the posterior portion of the propodeal dorsum the rugulae being replaced by fine reticulatepunctate sculpture. Dorsal surfaces of petiole and postpetiole finely sculptured but each with a smooth median area or smooth median longitudinal strip. First gastral tergite unsculptured. Metanotal groove impressed in profile, the propodeal spines usually slightly longer than their basal width, but sometimes represented only by a pair of broadly triangular teeth. Pubescence of hind tibiae short and fine, decumbent to appressed.

During this study I have examined specimens from Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, all falling within the range given by Creighton (1950). The var. transversinodis   HNS of Enzmann , noted above, is accepted as an absolute synonym of caespitum   HNS without question for, although I have not seen the holotype, the figures and description fit the species very well.

The status of var. immigrans   HNS is a little more dubious. It was first recorded from Chile by Santschi (1922) as T. caespitum   HNS but later he described it as caespitum var. immigrans   HNS (1927), both records being based on the same specimens from Valparaiso. Snelling & Hunt (1975) in their review of the Chilean ant fauna note the 1922 record but state that they had seen no material in their survey. Under these circumstances I think it best to assume that the Chilean record represents a casual introduction and to refer immigrans   HNS to the synonymy of caespitum   HNS . Sporadic introductions of caespitum   HNS in the neotropics are probably uncommon but I have seen material originating in Belize and Mexico during the course of this investigation.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Formicidae

Genus

Tetramorium

Loc

Tetramorium caespitum (L.)

Bolton, B. 1979
1979
Loc

Myrmica (Myrmica) brevinodis var. transversinodis

Enzmann 1946: 47
1946
Loc

Tetramorium caespitum var. immigrans

Santschi 1927: 54
1927
Loc

Formica caespitum

L. 1758: 581
1758
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