Aphaenogaster sardoa Mayr, 1853

Schifani, Enrico & Alicata, Antonio, 2023, Nomenclatural changes on some Mediterranean Aphaenogaster Mayr, 1853 taxa (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), Zootaxa 5277 (1), pp. 59-70 : 65-66

Aphaenogaster sardoa Mayr, 1853

= A. sardoa anoemica Santschi, 1910 syn. nov.

= A. sardoa ujhelyii Szabó, 1910 syn. nov.

Investigated material— Aphaenogaster sardoa : 2♀♀, Sardinia , Italy (syntypes of A. sardoa CASENT 0900461, CASENT0916080, NHMW) ; 10♀♀, 16³³, Capo Rama , Sicily, Italy, R. Lo Duca legit ( ESPC) ; 9♀♀, 1♀, Trapani , Sicily, Italy, F.P. Romano legit ( ESPC) ; 65♀♀, Monte Sparagio , Sicily, Italy, 38.048697, 12.796222, 9.XII.1993, A. Alicata legit ( ASPC) ; same except 31♀♀, 1♀, 38.042158, 12.753531; 37♀♀, 1♀, Monte Erice , Sicily, Italy, 38.039792, 12.595078, 10.XII.1993, A. Alicata legit ( ASPC) ; 36♀♀, Corleone , Sicily, Italy, 37.852538, 13.313867, 19.II.1994, A. Alicata legit ( ASPC) ; 12♀♀, Monte Inici , Sicily, Italy, 37.994467, 12.834525, 5.XII.1996, A. Alicata legit ( ASPC) ; ♀♀, Gole del Drago , Sicily, Italy, 37.865866, 13.300869, 24.IV.2016, E. Schifani legit ( ESPC) ; ♀♀, Marausa , Sicily, Italy, 37.928834, 12.484920, 7.VIII.2017, L. Barraco legit ( ESPC) ; ♀♀, Favignana , Sicily, Italy, 37.921667, 12.317222, 18.III.2017, R. Viviano legit ( ESPC) ; 33♀♀, Lampedusa , Sicily, Italy, 35.499117, 12.594717, 7.X.2017, E. Schifani legit ( ESPC) ; same except 33♀♀, 35.514889, 12.569083, 8.X.2017; same except 7♀♀, 35.518217, 12.526533, 9.X.2017; same except 3♀♀, 35.496017, 12.612233, 10.X.2017; same except 1♀, 35.518867, 12.531567, 11.X.2017; same except 1♀, 35.522778, 12.567694, 12.X.2017; same except 5♀♀, 35.516972, 12.594028; 2♀♀, San Martino delle Scale , Sicily, Italy, 22.IX.2018, S. Costa legit ( ESPC) ; 15♀♀, Bosco Scorace , Sicily, Italy, 37.976944, 12.773889, 7.VI.2020, R. Viviano legit ( ESPC) ; 20♀♀, Rocca Busambra , Sicily, Italy, 37.861010, 13.360556, 7.III.2021, E. Schifani legit ( ESPC) ; 1♀, Borgo Iudeo , Sicily, Italy, 37.836492, 13.22806, 12.VIII.20121, S. Chiarello legit ( ESPC) ; 2♀♀, Ficuzza , Sicily, Italy, 37.888528, 13.365232, 13.IX.2021, E. Schifani legit ( ESPC) ; 6♀♀, Isola di San Pantaleo , Sicily, Italy, 37.867999, 12.464691, 26.IV.2022, E. Schifani legit ( ESPC) ; 2♀♀, Borgo Iudeo , Sicily, Italy, 37.769259, 12.635924, 16.V.2022, E. Schifani legit ( ESPC) ; 1♀, Tangier, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima , Morocco, G. Buchet legit (syntype of A. sardoa anoemica, CASENT 0913123, NHMB) ; 1♀, Zarhouan , Zaghouan, Tunisia, 1905, M.J. Ujhelyi legit (syntype of A. ujhelyii, CASENT 0907702, NHMG) ; 17♀♀, Teborsouk , Béja, Tunisia, 13.III.2018, I. Sparacio legit ( ESPC) ; 8♀♀, El Feija National Park , Jendouba, Tunisia, 36.773806, 8.651889, 18.XI.2016, W. Oueslati legit ( AAPC, ESPC) ; 9♀♀, Aïn Soltane , Jendouba, Tunisia, 36.532083, 8.348111, 19.XI.2016, W. Oueslati legit ( AAPC, ESPC) ; 10♀♀, Ksour , Jendouba, Tunisia, 35.758639, 8.871194, 17.IV.2017, W. Oueslati legit ( AAPC, ESPC) .

Aphaenogaster sardoa Mayr, 1853 is the type species of the genus Aphaenogaster and a member of the sardoa group, which is currently recognized as the most species-rich group within the genus ( Schifani et al. 2022). Its peculiar morphology and pigmentation led to its classification as an entity separate from its true phylogenetic clade until recently ( Boer 2013; Schifani et al. 2022). While A. sardoa was described from Sardinia based on workers ( Fig. 4 ), it is also present in western Sicily ( Mayr 1853; Schifani et al. 2020) and is widespread in the Maghreb. In the latter region, two related forms are also currently recognized, both described in the same year: A. sardoa anoemica Santschi, 1910 was described based on Moroccan and Tunisian material, and A. sardoa ujhelyii Szabó, 1910 based on Tunisian material ( Santschi 1910; Szabó, 1910). Santschi (1910) and Szabó (1910) were unaware of each other’s work according to their descriptions. Santschi (1910) described anoemica as a variety of A. sardoa providing only a queen description but depositing also undescribed syntype workers ( Fig. 4 ). Later, the variety was elevated to the subspecies rank ( Emery 1921). On the other hand, Szabó described A. ujhelyi as a good species which was later reconsidered as a subspecies based on the morphology of workers ( Abdi-Hamecha et al. 2021).

Since their descriptions in 1910, the morphological characteristics of the two subspecies remained unclear. Santschi (1910) reported shorter hairs, a smaller first funicular segment, and a longer anterior margin of the petiole compared to the dorsal one to be the defining characteristics of the A. sardoa anoemica queen. It is unclear, however, whether Santschi (1910) was able to compare the queen he used for the description to Sardinian queens since the only queen description of A. sardoa was provided by André (1883) based on specimens of unknown provenience and did not include any of the characters used by Santschi (1910). Moreover, the petiole’s anterior margin was longer than the dorsal margin in all the Italian A. sardoa queens that we examined, while the other characters allegedly defining A. sardoa anoemica would require many measured specimens to be convincingly assessed. On the other hand, Szabó (1910) defined A. sardoa ujhelyii as distinct from A. sardoa due to the following characteristics of workers: smaller size, finer surface sculpturing, slenderer thorax (probably referring to the mesosoma), and mesonotum higher than the pronotum. Out of these four, the second and the third are commonly associated with the first in the intraspecific variation of ant workers, while the mesonotum higher than the pronotum, which is illustrated with emphasis by Szabó (1910) is not visible in the type workers ( Fig. 4 ). Therefore, A. sardoa is established as the senior synonym of both A. sardoa anoemica and A. sardoa ujhelyii .

Figures

FIGURE 4. The three castes of Aphaenogaster sardoa. A,D: syntype worker from Sardinia, Italy (CASENT0916080, photo by Anna Pal). B,E: syntype worker of A. sardoa anoemica from Morocco (CASENT0913123, photo by Z. Lieberman); C,F: syntype worker of A. ujhelyii from Tunisia (CASENT0907702, photo by Z. Lieberman). G,I: queen from Sicily, Italy. H,J: male from Sicily, Italy. Photos A–F are available on www.antweb.org.