Tapinoma erraticum var. simrothi Krausse-Heldrungen 1911

Seifert, Bernhard, Kaufmann, Bernard & Fraysse, Lorenzo, 2024, A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic species of the ant genus Tapinoma Mayr 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 5435 (1), pp. 1-74 : 49

Tapinoma erraticum var. simrothi Krausse-Heldrungen 1911 [neotype fixation]

Krausse-Heldrungen (1911) gave no type locality but concluded from the title of the paper the terra typica is Sardinia. Original types of T. simrothi are missing and the full text of Krausse-Heldrungen’s description allows only the conclusion that it is bigger than erraticum : “Klopfte ich von Wolfsmilchblüten; sie gleicht dem T. erraticum Ltr. , nähert sich in der Grösse aber dem T. erraticum-nigerrimum ” ( Krausse-Heldrungen 1911, p18) . The existence of four cryptic species within the Tapinoma simrothi complex and necessity for clear reference specimens requires the fixation of a neotype. Even though there is, due to missing taxonomic knowledge in the past, no name tradition to be saved, we decided against placing the name under Incertae Sedis. Thus a neotype was fixed in a worker from a nest sample with males, gynes and other workers, labelled “ ITA: 38.92561°N, 8.71653°E, Teulada-6 Km S-W, 2 m, open area in gariga under Cynara cardunculus, Centorame 20140417-TSa17”; depository SMN Görlitz. The neotype sample is allocated with p = 1.000 to the T. simrothi cluster in a LDA considering all four species of the T. simrothi group.