Redescription of Tetramorium forte Forel, 1904 (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a western Mediterranean ant species.
Author
Güsten, R.
Author
Schulz, A.
Author
Sanetra, M.
text
Zootaxa
2006
1310
1
35
http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21095/21095.pdf
journal article
21095
B17A7DB9-DBB5-4E56-B313-0A202A75BFAC
Myrmica specioides Bondroit
, 1918
Myrmica specioides Bondroit
, 1918
Tetramorium silvestrianum Emery
, 1924:
syn. nov.
Myrmica rugulosoides var. striata Finzi
, 1926 (synonymy: Collingwood 1979)
Myrmica scabrinodis var. ahngeri Karavaiev
, 1926 (synonymy: Seifert 1988)
Myrmica puerilis Staercke
, 1942 (synonymy: Collingwood & Yarrow 1969)
Myrmica neglecta Staercke
, 1942 (nomen nudum)
Myrmica scabrinodis var. atlantica Staercke
, 1942 (nomen nudum)
Myrmica (Myrmica) balcanica Sadil
, 1952 (synonymy: Pisarski 1975)
Myrmica (Myrmica) balcanica var. scabrinodoides Sadil
, 1952 (synonymy: Pisarski 1975)
Material examined
1 [[worker]],
lectotype
of
T. silvestrianum Emery
(hereby designated): „
Manresa
Silvestri
/
Typus
/
Tetramorium silvestrianum Emery
Typus
/
Myrmica
nec
Tetramorium
MF[label most likely by B. Poldi] /
Lectotypus
Tetramorium silvestrianum Emery
des. R. Guesten, A. Schulz & M. Sanetra 2005“ (
MCSN
)
;
1 [[worker]], „
Solden
(A.),
9.VII.
20
/
Tetramorium silvestrianum Em.
var.!, Santschi det. 1926 / Sammlung Dr. F. Santschi, Kairouan (
NHMB
)“
.
One of the two original syntypes of
T. silvestrianum Emery
remains at MCSN. It is in good condition and can easily be determined as a worker of
Myrmica specioides Bondroit
. Also, Emery´s (1924) description matches this specimen and his outline figure shows the petiole shape of
M. specioides
, so that there is no reason to believe that the other syntype represented a different species. Nevertheless, the surviving specimen is designated as lectotype in order to firmly establish the synonymy. We cannot explain Emery´s (1924) gaffe. Continuing the misconception, F. Santschi also determined a worker of
M. specioides
from “Solden (A.)” (probably Soelden, Tirol, Austria) in his collection as
T. silvestrianum
. Collingwood and Yarrow (1969), Collingwood (1978) and Lopez (1991) regarded
T. silvestrianum
as a synonym of
T. forte
on the grounds that the descriptions where allegedly corresponding.
A worker ant from
Geneve
(
Switzerland
) was determined as
T. silvestrianum
by Collingwood (in Lopez 1991).
The synonymy of
M. specioides Bondroit
is summarized above. Seifert (2002) has demonstrated that
M specioides
is not a synonym of
M. bessarabica Nassonov
, 1889 as previously stated by Atanassov and Dlussky (1992). We have not included several junior synonyms proposed by Dlussky et al. (1990) and Arakelian (1994) concerning taxa described from areas east of the range of
M specioides
as given by Seifert (1988), chiefly from the Caucasus. These synonymies need reinvestigation.