Temnothorax clypeatus (Mayr 1853)

Schifani, Enrico, Csősz, SÁndor, Viviano, Roberto & Alicata, Antonio, 2021, Ant diversity on the largest Mediterranean islands: on the presence or absence of 28 species in Sicily (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), Natural History Sciences 8 (1), pp. 55-70 : 58

7. Temnothorax clypeatus (Mayr 1853)

A widespread European species, differing from most European Temnothorax by belonging to the rugatulus clade (Prebus, 2017). Usually associated with deciduous forests (Seifert, 2018), T. clypeatus is one of the few exclusively tree inhabiting Temnothorax species in Sicily alongside T. affinis (Mayr 1853) and T. mediterraneus Ward et al. 2015 (Galkowski & Cagniant, 2017; Schifani & Alicata, 2018). It is unlikely that T. clypeatus was misidentified in the past, and it is possibly relatively widespread in Sicily, far beyond the single locality we know; in fact, arboreal-nesting species are easily overlooked during field surveys. A similar case in Sicily is that of Camponotus tergestinus Müller 1921 (Schifani & Alicata, 2018).

Examined material ( Fig. 4 a-b)

Syracuse province: Bosco di Santo Pietro, Quercus suber forest, 02.06.2019, S. Csősz & A. Alicata legit, SCC and AAC.

Figures

Fig. 4 - a-b) Temnothorax clypeatus. Worker / operaia. Bosco di Santo Pietro (AAC). c-d) Temnothorax nylanderi. Worker / operaia. Lago Maulazzo (ESC). e-f) Temnothorax ravouxi. Queen / regina. Madonna delle Grazie (AAC). Scale bar / scala grafica: 0.5 mm.