Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5435 No. 1: 10 Apr. 2024
Type: Monograph
Published: 2024-04-10
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5435.1.1
Page range: 1-74
Abstract views: 293
PDF downloaded: 7

A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic species of the ant genus Tapinoma Mayr 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Department of Entomology; Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz; Am Museum 1; 02826 Görlitz; Germany
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1; LEHNA UMR 5023; CNRS; ENTPE; F-69622; Villeurbanne; France
Master de Biologie;École Normale Supérieure de Lyon; Université de Lyon; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1; F-69342 Lyon Cedex 07; France
Hymenoptera cryptic species numeric morphology-based alpha-taxonomy integrative taxonomy nuclear DNA

Abstract

A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic species of the ant genus Tapinoma Emery 1861 is provided. Due to the extreme rarity of discernable characters, the female castes of 64% of the species are not separable by primary visual perception of an expert and are thus truly cryptic. The main working rationale of the revision is Numeric Morphology-Based Alpha-Taxonomy (NUMOBAT) with formation of species hypotheses largely based on exploratory data analyses and checking these hypotheses by discriminant analysis. NUMOBAT data of all considered species comprise 648 worker samples with 2014 individuals and 30,000 primary data. Species are depicted by z-stack imaging in three standard visual positions. Numeric data on 15 phenotypical characters are presented in comparative tables and supplementary verbal descriptions are given. Analysis of nuclear DNA was based on evaluation of 15 microsatellite loci in 274 nest samples. The NUMOBAT-based classification of eight species of the Tapinoma nigerrimum and T. simrothi group which are inseparable by subjective visual inspection was confirmed by nuclear DNA data in 98.3% of 169 samples where both morphological and nuDNA data were available. The three cases of disagreement between NUMOBAT and nuDNA classification were discussed. Excluding Nomina Nuda and unavailable names, the revision recognized 34 available names which divide into 21 valid species, 11 junior synonyms and two names placed under Incertae Sedis. Four species are described as new: Tapinoma hispanicum n. sp., T. insularis n. sp., T. dabashanica n. sp. and T. sichuense n. sp. The following synonymies were stated: T. collina Foerster 1850, T. erraticum platyops Emery 1925 and T. erraticum bononiensis Emery 1925 as synonyms of T. erraticum (Latreille 1798); T. tauridis Emery 1925 and T. breve Emery 1925 as synonyms of T. glabrella (Nylander 1849) that is erected to species level; T. minor Bernard 1945 as synonym of T. simrothi Krausse-Heldrungen 1911; T. simrothi azerbaidzhanica Karavajev 1932 as synonym of Tapinoma karavaievi Emery 1925 that is erected here to species level; T. erraticum ambiguum Emery 1925 as synonym of T. madeirense Forel 1895 and T. emeryanum Kuznetzov-Ugamsky 1927 as synonym of T. sinense Emery 1925. Despite an insufficient separation of the female castes of Tapinoma madeirense and T. subboreale Seifert 2011 by NUMOBAT characters and detection of a hybrid zone in southern France, the heterospecific status of the two taxa was maintained based on sufficient differences in male genitalia and of nuclear DNA over a larger geographic scale. Formica caerulescens Losana 1834 is removed from genus Tapinoma and recognized as member of the subfamily Formicinae.

References

  1. Álvarez, H.A., García-García, A., Sandoval, P., Martín-Blázquez, R., Seifert, B., Tinaut, A. & Ruano, F. (2023) Elucidating the trophic role of Tapinoma ibericum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as a potential predator of olive pests. Journal of Applied Entomology, 147, 667–675. https://doi.org/10.1111/jen.13160
  2. Bernard, F. (1968) Les fourmis d’Europe occidentale et septentrionale. In: Faune de l’ Europe et du Bassin Méditerranéen. Vol. 3. Masson éditeurs, Paris, pp. 1–411.
  3. Bernard, F. (1983) Les fourmis et leur millieu en France méditerranéenne. In: Encyclopédie Entomologique. Vol. 16. Lechevalier, Paris, pp. 1–149.
  4. Berville, L., Hefetz, A., Espadaler, X., Lenoir, A., Renucci, M., Blight, O. & Provost, E. (2013) Differentiation of the ant genus Tapinoma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Mediterranean Bassin by species-specific cuticular hydrocarbon profiles. Myrmecological News, 18, 77–92.
  5. Blight, O., Provost, E., Renucci, M., Tirard, A. & Orgeas, J. (2010) A native ant armed to limit the spread of the Argentine ant. Biological Invasions, 12, 3785–3793. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9770-3
  6. Blum, M.S. & Hermann, H.R. (1978) Venoms and venom apparatuses of the Formicidae: Dolichoderinae and Aneuretinae. In: Bettini, S. (Ed.), Arthropod Venoms. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 871–894. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45501-8_26
  7. Bolton, B. (2023) An Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World. Available from: https://www.antweb.org (retrieved 31 October 2023)
  8. Centanni, J., Kaufmann, B., Blatrix, R., Blight, O., Dumet, A., Jay-Robert, P. & Vergnes, A. (2022) High resolution mapping in Southern France reveals that distributions of supercolonial and monodomous species in the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are related to sensitivity to urbanization. Myrmecological News, 32, 41–50.
  9. Cordonnier, M., Bellec, A., Dumet, A., Escarguel, G. & Kaufmann, B. (2019a) Range limits in sympatric cryptic species: a case study in Tetramorium pavement ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) across a biogeographical boundary. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 12, 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12316
  10. Cordonnier, M., Gayet, T., Escarguel, G. & Kaufmann, B. (2019b) From hybridization to introgression between two closely related sympatric ant species. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 57, 778–788. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12297
  11. Csősz, S. & Fisher, B.L. (2016) Taxonomic revision of the Malagasy members of the Nesomyrmex angulatus species group using the automated morphological species delineation protocol NC-PART-clustering. PeerJ, 4, e1796. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1796
  12. Gouraud, C. & Kaufmann, B. (2022) Nouvelles observations des fourmis invasives du complexe des Tapinoma gr. nigerrimum dans le Massif armoricain (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Invertébrés Armoricains, 23, 23–38.
  13. De Pletincx, N.L. & Aron, S. (2022) Sociogenetic structure, reproductive strategies and queen replacement in the erratic ant (Tapinoma erraticum). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 136/2, 354–363. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blac025
  14. D’Eustacchio, D., Centorame, M., Fanfani, A., Senczuk, G., Jimenez-Aleman, G.H., Vasco-Vidal, A., Mendez, Y., Ehrlich, A., Wessjohann, L. & Francioso, A. (2019) Iridoids and volatile pheromones of Tapinoma darioi ants: chemical differences to the closely related species Tapinoma magnum. Chemoecology, 29 (2), 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-018-00275-9
  15. Emery, C. (1925) Revision des espèces paléarctiques du genre Tapinoma. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 32, 45–64.
  16. Espadaler, X. (1978) Descripción de los sexuados de Tapinoma pygmaeum (Dufour, 1857) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Vie et Milieu. Série C. Biologie Terrestre, 27, 119–128.
  17. Espadaler, X. & García-Berthou, E. (1997) Tapinoma pygmaeum (Dufour, 1857) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), not a rare species. Orsis (Organismes i Sistemes), 12, 89–92.
  18. Eyer, P.A. & Hefetz, A. (2018) Cytonuclear incongruences hamper species delimitation in the socially polymorphic desert ants of the Cataglyphis albicans group in Israel. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 31 (12), 1828–1842. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13378
  19. Eyer, P.A., Seltzer, R., Reiner-Brodetzki, T. & Hefetz, A. (2017) An integrative approach to untangling species delimitation in the Cataglyphis bicolor desert ant complex in Israel. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 115, 128–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.07.024
  20. Foerster, A. (1850). Hymenopterologische Studien. 1. Formicariae. Ernst Ter Meer, Aaachen, 74 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.8795
  21. Fisher, B.L. (2009) Two new dolichoderine ant genera from Madagascar: Aptinoma gen. n. and Ravavy gen. n. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa, 2118 (1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2118.1.3
  22. Gouraud, C. & Kaufman, B. (2022) Nouvelles observations des fourmis invasives du complexe des Tapinoma gr. nigerrimum dans le Massif armoricain (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Invertébrés Armoricains, 23, 23–38.
  23. Hefetz, A. & Lloyd, H.A. (1983) Identification of new components from anal glands of Tapinoma simrothi pheonicium. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 9 (5), 607–613. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00990412
  24. Heller, G. (2011) Pheidole pallidula (NYLANDER, 1849) und Tapinoma nigerrimum (NYLANDER, 1886) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), etablierte Neozoa in Rheinland-Pfalz. Mainzer naturwissenschaftliches Archiv, 48, 273–281.
  25. Jombart, T. (2008) adegenet: a R package for the multivariate analysis of genetic markers. Bioinformatics, 24, 1403–1405. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btn129
  26. Karavaiev, V.O. (1937) Murashki sibrani v zapovidnikakh Kinburns’kogo pivostrova i Burkutiv. Zbirnik Prats’ Zoologichnogo museyu, 19, 171–181.
  27. Knaden, M., Tinaut, A., Cerdá, X., Wehner, S. & Wehner, R. (2005) Phylogeny of three parapatric species of desert ants, Cataglyphis bicolor, C. viaticus, and C. savignyi: a comparison of mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA, and morphometric data. Zoology, 108, 169–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2005.03.005
  28. Kopelman, N.M., Mayzel, J., Jakobsson, M., Rosenberg, N.A. & Mayrose, I. (2015) Clumpak: a program for identifying clustering modes and packaging population structure inferences across K. Molecular Ecology Resources, 15, 1179–1191. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12387
  29. Krausse-Heldrungen, A.H. (1911) Über Messor structor LTR. und einige andere Ameisen auf Sardinien. Bollettino della Societa Entomologica Italiana, 41, 14–18.
  30. Lebas, C., Galkowski, C., Blatrix, R. & Wegnez, P. (2016) Guide Delachaux: Fourmis d’Europe occidentale. Delachaux et Niestlé, Luçon, 415 pp.
  31. Lenoir, A., Perdereau, E. & Berville, L. (2023) Chemotaxonomy of Tapinoma and some Dolichoderinae ants from Europe and North Africa. Sociobiology, 70 (3), e9099. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v70i3.9099
  32. Losana, M. (1834) Saggio sopra dele formiche indigene del Piemonte. Memorie della Reale Academia delle Scienze di Torino, 37, 307–333.
  33. Mansour, R., Suma, P., Mazzeo, G., La Pergola, A., Pappalardo, V., Grissa Lebdi, K. & Russo, A. (2012) Interactions between the ant Tapinoma nigerrimum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the main natural enemies of the vine and citrus mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). Biocontrol Science and Technology, 22, 527–537. https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2012.665832
  34. Mayr, G. (1863) Formicidarum index synonymicus. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 13, 385–460.
  35. Morris, T.I., Symondson, W.O.V., Kidd, N.A.C. & Campos, M. (2002) The effect of different ant species on the olive moth, Prays oleae (Bern.), in Spanish olive orchard. Journal of Applied Entomology, 126 (5), 224–230. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1439-0418.2002.00647.x
  36. Noordijk, J. (2016) Leefwijze van Tapinoma nigerrimum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), een nieuwe exotische mier in Nederland. Entomologische Berichten, 76 (3), 86–93.
  37. Orou, N., Csösz, S., Arnan, X., Pol, R.G., Arthofer, W., Schlick-Steiner, B.C. & Steiner, F.M. (2023) Messor erwini sp. n., a hitherto cryptic harvester ant in the Iberian Peninsula. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 307, 36–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2023.09.001
  38. Pavan, M. & Trave, R. (1958) Etudes sur les formicidae. IV. Sur le venin du dolichoderide Tapinoma nigerrimum. Insectes Sociaux, 5, 299–308. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02223939
  39. Pereira, J.A., Bento, A., Cabanas, J.E., Torres, L.M., Herz, A. & Hassan, S.A. (2004) Ants as predators of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma cacoeciae (hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) applied for biological control of the olive moth, prays oleae (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) in Portugal. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 14, 653–664. https://doi.org/10.1080/09583150410001682386
  40. Pritchard, J.K., Stephens, M. & Donnelly, P. (2000) Inference of population structure using multilocus genotype data. Genetics, 155, 945–959. https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/155.2.945
  41. Puechmaille, S. (2016) The program STRUCTURE does not reliably recover the correct population structure when sampling is uneven: sub-sampling and new estimators alleviate the problem. Molecular Ecology Resources, 16, 608–627. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12512
  42. Radchenko, A.G. (1983) Tapinoma kinburni (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), endemichnyi vid fauny USSR. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 62, 1904–1907.
  43. Radchenko, A.G. (2016) Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Ukraine. National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Kiev, 496 pp.
  44. Roger, J. (1863) Verzeichniss der Formiciden-Gattungen und Arten. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift, 7 (Beilage), 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/mmnd.18630070123
  45. Ruiz-Heras, P., Martínez-Ibáñez, D., Cabrero-Sañudo, F.J. & Vázquez-Martínez, A. (2011) Primeros datos de Formícidos (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) en parques urbanos de Madrid. Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología, 35 (1–2), 93–112.
  46. Satokangas, I., Nouhaud, P., Seifert, B., Punttila, P., Schultz, R., Jones, M.M., Sirén, J., Helanterä, H. & Kulmuni, J. (2023) Semipermeable species boundaries create opportunities for gene flow and adaptive potential. Molecular Ecology, 32, 4329–4347. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16992
  47. Schultze, N., Spitzweg, C., Corti, C., Delaugerre, M., Di Nicola, M.R., Geniez, P., Lapini, L., Liuzzi, C., Lunghi, E., Novarini, N., Picariello, O., Razzetti, E., Sperone, E., Stellati, L., Vignoli, L., Asztalos, M., Kindler, C., Vamberger, M. & Fritz, U. (2020) Mitochondrial ghost lineages blur phylogeography and taxonomy of Natrix helvetica and N. natrix in Italy and Corsica. Zoologica Scripta, 49, 395–411. https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12417
  48. Seifert, B. (1984) A method for differentiation of the female castes of Tapinoma ambiguum Emery and Tapinoma erraticum (Latr.) and remarks on their distribution in Europe north of the Mediterranean Region. Faunistische Abhandlungen des Museums für Tierkunde Dresden, 11, 151–155.
  49. Seifert, B. (1999) Interspecific hybridisations in natural populations of ants by example of a regional fauna (Hymenoptera:Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux, 46, 45–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s000400050111
  50. Seifert, B. (2006) Social cleptogamy in the ant subgenus Chthonolasius - survival as a minority. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Naturkundemuseums Görlitz, 77, 251–276.
  51. Seifert, B. (2009) Cryptic species in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) revisited: We need a change in the alpha-taxonomic approach. Myrmecological News, 12, 149–166.
  52. Seifert, B., Ritz, M. & Csősz, S. (2014) Application of Exploratory Data Analyses opens a new perspective in morphology-based alpha-taxonomy of eusocial organisms. Myrmecological News, 19, 1–15.
  53. Seifert, B. (2016) Analyzing large-scale and intranidal phenotype distributions in eusocial Hymenoptera–a taxonomic tool to distinguish intraspecific dimorphism from heterospecificity. Myrmecological News, 23, 41–59.
  54. Seifert, B. (2018) The Ants of Central and North Europe. Lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Tauer, 408 pp.
  55. Seifert, B. (2019a) The Rubens morph of Formica exsecta Nylander, 1846 and its separation from Formica fennica Seifert, 2000 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 66 (1), 55–61. https://doi.org/10.3897/dez.66.34868
  56. Seifert, B. (2019b) A taxonomic revision of the members of the Camponotus lateralis species group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Europe, Asia Minor and Caucasia. Soil Organisms, 91 (1), 7–32.
  57. Seifert, B. (2020a) Superkoloniale Ameisen nördlich der Alpen–eine Welle rollt an. Pest Control News, 69, 18–22.
  58. Seifert, B. (2020b) The Gene and Gene Expression (GAGE) Species Concept: An Universal Approach for All Eukaryotic Organisms. Systematic Biology, 69 (5), 1033–1038. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaa032
  59. Seifert, B. (2021) A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the Formica rufa group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)—the famous mound-building red wood ants. Myrmecological News, 31, 133–179. https://doi.org/10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:133
  60. Seifert, B., D’Eustaccio, D., Kaufmann, B., Centorame, M., Lorite, P. & Modica, M.V. (2017) Four species within the supercolonial ants of the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex revealed by integrative taxonomy (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News, 24, 123–144.
  61. Seifert, B., Schultz, R., Ritz, M.S. & Ritz, C.M. (2018) Cryptic species of the Myrmica tibetana complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) revealed by integrative taxonomy. Myrmecological News, 27, 1–18.
  62. Sharaf, M., Aldawood, A. & El-Hawagry, M. (2012) A new ant species of the genus Tapinoma (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Saudi Arabia with a key to the Arabian species. ZooKeys, 212, 35–43. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.212.3325
  63. Shattuck, S.O. (1994) Taxonomic catalog of the ant subfamilies Aneuretinae and Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). University of California Publications in Entomology, 112, 1–241.
  64. Steiner, F.M., Seifert, B., Grasso, D.A., Le Moli, F., Arthofer, W., Stauffer, C., Crozier, R.H. & Schlick-Steiner, B.C. (2011) Mixed colonies and hybridisation of Messor harvester ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Organisms, Diversity & Evolution, 11, 107–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-011-0045-3
  65. Van Boesschoten, L., Blanckaert, F. & Noordijk, J. (2017) Het mediterraan draaigatje invasief en overlastgevend. Dierplagen Informatie, 3, 1–6.
  66. Van Dijk, C., Noordijk, J. & Evers, A. (2022) Bestrijding mediterraan draaigatje door bevriezing van de bodem: Effectiviteit van een in situ behandeling. Rapport Wageningen Plant Research, No. WPR-1205. [unknown pagination] https://doi.org/10.18174/581404
  67. Wagner, H.C. (2019) Wiener Ameisenbeobachtungen (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik, 20, 143–159.
  68. Wetterer, J.K., Espadaler, X., Wetterer, A.L., Aguin-Pombo, D. & Franquinho-Aguiar, A.M. (2007) Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Madeiran archipelago. Sociobiology, 49 (3), 265–297.
  69. Weyna, A., Bourouina, L., Galtier, N. & Romiguier, J. (2022) Detection of F1 Hybrids from Single-genome Data Reveals Frequent Hybridization in Hymenoptera and Particularly Ants. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 39 (4), msac071. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msac071
  70. Wham, D.C. & LaJeunesse, T.C. (2016) Symbiodinium population genetics: testing for species boundaries and analysing samples with mixed genotypes. Molecular Ecology, 205 (12), 2699–712. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13623
  71. Xerda, X., Retana, J., Bosch, J. & Alsina, A. (1989) Exploitation of food resources by the ant Tapinoma nigerrimum (Hym., Formicidae). Acta Oecologica, Oecologia Generalis, 10 (4), 419–429.