Formica truncorum FABRICIUS, 1804

Seifert, Bernhard, 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, pp. 133-179 : 168

Formica truncorum FABRICIUS, 1804

Formica truncorum FABRICIUS, 1804 [type investigation]

The taxon was described from Moravia / Czechia from a nestinadeadtreetrunk.Investigatedweretwotypespecimens from ZM Copenhagen: one worker labelled “ Formica truncorum 403.31 Kiel ” (a permanent loan from ZM Kiel) and with a handwritten fragmentary label “ trunca fusca ”, and a strongly damaged alate gyne labelled “ Formica truncorum 403.31 Kiel ” but without a second label. Both specimens are fully consistent with the established conception of F. truncorum . A synonymy with Formica frontalis is excluded by zoogeography and the higher setae numbers on scape and metapleuron. Data of the worker are: CS 1957 µm, CL / CW 1.046, SL / CS 0.978, PeW / CS 0.483; nGu 29, OccHL 124 µm, GuHL 220 µm, mPnHL 81.6 µm, nPr 44.5, nMet 24.5, MetHL 170 µm (setae data of damaged body parts were estimated and are not given here). The gyne fragment, consisting of the dorsal mesosoma with wings, petiole, both hindlegs, and one foreleg, is a typical reddish F. truncorum with all surfaces covered by a profuse, thin, and very long pilosity. The wings are notably infuscated, matching the original description.