Myrmica trullicornis Buren, 1944

Shattuck, Steve & Cover, Stefan, 2016, Taxonomy of some little-understood North American ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 4175 (1), pp. 10-22 : 17

Myrmica trullicornis Buren, 1944 , new status

Myrmica sabuleti trullicornis Buren, 1944: 281 . 34 worker syntypes, near Ames [42°02′N 93°38′W], Iowa, 30 April 1941 (W.F. Buren.) (The Natural History Museum) [https://www.antweb.org/specimen/CASENT0900350] ; 11 worker, 1 queen syntypes, near Boone [42°04′N 93°53′W], Iowa, 3 May 1941 (W.F. Buren). Raised to species.

This taxon was originally described as a subspecies of M. sabuleti by Buren (1944), then, a few years later Weber (1948) synonymized it with M. americana , where it remained for a short period before Creighton (1950) revived it from synonymy and placed it as a subspecies of M. hamulata ; a status it has maintained until the present. However, even a cursory examination reveals that the structure of the flange at the base of the antennal scape is unique and readily separates this taxon from close relatives. This flange lacks the elongate hook found in M. hamulata while the flange is absent in M. sabuleti . As noted by Buren (1944) in the original description, M. trullicornis is distinct from M. spatulata , differing in numerous characters including having the antennal flange much broader and almost dish-like compared to the narrower and more elongate flange of M. spatulata . There is little doubt that this taxon should be recognized as a distinct species, a treatment recommended here.

This species has been recorded from Illinois and Iowa, United States.