Temnothorax nitens (Emery, Mayr, 1861

Ward, P. S., 2005, A synoptic review of the ants of California (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)., Zootaxa 936, pp. 1-68 : 17-18

publication ID

21008

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6268070

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/704C72C6-634D-2219-44C5-39FDC3AA1873

treatment provided by

Thomas

scientific name

Temnothorax nitens (Emery
status

 

Temnothorax nitens (Emery   HNS , 1895d)

(Figure 8)

Leptothorax nitens Emery   HNS 1895d: 322. Holotype worker, American Fork Canon , Utah [ USNM] [Examined]

Leptothorax nitens var. mariposa Wheeler   HNS 1917a: 507. Nine syntype workers, Camp Curry, Yosemite , California [ LACM, MCZC] [Examined] Syn. nov.

Leptothorax mariposa Wheeler   HNS ; Cole 1958c: 536. Raised to species.

Leptothorax melinus Mackay   HNS 2000: 368. Holotype worker, Beartrap Cyn. , Socorro Co., New Mexico, 2286 m (W. Mackay #16889 ) [ MCZC] [Examined]. Two paratype workers in LACM (same data) also examined. Syn. nov.

Temnothorax mariposa (Wheeler)   HNS ; Bolton 2003: 271. First combination in Temnothorax   HNS .

Temnothorax melinus (Mackay)   HNS ; Bolton 2003: 271. First combination in Temnothorax   HNS .

Temnothorax nitens (Emery)   HNS ; Bolton 2003: 271. First combination in Temnothorax   HNS .

Comments. T. nitens   HNS is a common western United States species characterized by a strongly cuneate (wedge-shaped) petiole, as seen in profile (Fig. 8). Body color varies from pale yellow to medium brown. Integument sculpture tends to be light; the head and mesosoma are finely reticulate-foveolate, with extensive shiny areas usually on the front of the head and occasionally on the mesosoma dorsum. The propodeal spines are variable, relatively short but better developed (on average) than in T. andrei   HNS , and usually as prominent as the anteroventral petiolar process, or more so (Figure 8). In the holotype worker of T. nitens   HNS the mesosoma dorsum is smooth and shiny centrally, but as noted by others (Wheeler 1903d; Cole 1958c) the head and mesosomal sculpture is highly variable in this species, and both shiny and more heavily sculptured workers can be found in the same nest. I have also observed this in California populations from the Sierra Nevada. The California workers with a shiny promesonotum tend to have weak longitudinal carinulae encroaching anteriorly and laterally, as in the T. nitens   HNS type.

Mackay’s (2000) treatment of T. nitens   HNS is inconsistent. On the one hand he seems to accept a broad concept of the species, showing it as having a wide distribution in western North America, accepting the previous synonymy of heathii   HNS and occidentalis   HNS under T. nitens   HNS (incorrectly, as it turns out -see under T. andrei   HNS ), and citing biological data from a diverse selection of localities. On the other hand, he describes a colony series from New Mexico as a new species ( melinus   HNS ), even though it falls well within the ambit of T. nitens   HNS (sensu lato). Restricting the use of the name T. nitens   HNS to workers with an especially shiny mesosoma is difficult to justify, given the patterns of intranidal variation described above. It seems more reasonable to treat it as a polytypic species, with variable effacement of the mesosomal sculpture.

T. mariposa   HNS was originally described as a variety of T. nitens   HNS . It was synonymized under that species by Creighton (1950a), and later resurrected by Cole (1958c) and raised to species. Cole’s argument was that both forms co-occurred in the Yosemite region without intergrading. But examination of a large series of nitens-like specimens from throughout the California Sierra Nevada challenges this thesis. It leads me to the conclusion that T. mariposa   HNS simply connotes larger individuals of T. nitens   HNS which have correspondingly broader heads and a tendency towards darker body color and coarser sculpture on the side of the mesosoma. There is no evidence of a gap in this size variation (nor in the correlated variation in shape, color and sculpture). The LACM collection has nitens-like nest series collected by Cole at Yosemite . His accessions 136, 184, 198, 201, 230, 231 and 233 are identified as “ nitens   HNS ” and 239 as “ mariposa   HNS ”. The “ nitens   HNS ” series are collectively smaller and more lightly sculptured than accession 239, but accessions 230, 231 and 233 have workers approaching those of 239 in size and sculpture. Moreover, the syntypes of T. mariposa   HNS (LACM, MCZC) agree more closely with the majority series (136 to 233) than with 239, so Cole’s attributions and conclusions are difficult to justify.

USNM

USA, Washington D.C., National Museum of Natural History, [formerly, United States National Museum]

LACM

USA, California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History

MCZC

USA, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Hexapoda

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Formicidae

Genus

Temnothorax

Loc

Temnothorax nitens (Emery

Ward, P. S. 2005
2005
Loc

Temnothorax mariposa (Wheeler)

Mayr 1861
1861
Loc

Temnothorax

Mayr 1861
1861
Loc

Temnothorax melinus (Mackay)

Mayr 1861
1861
Loc

Temnothorax

Mayr 1861
1861
Loc

Temnothorax nitens (Emery)

Mayr 1861
1861
Loc

Temnothorax

Mayr 1861
1861
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