Plagiolepis pygmaea var. barbara Plagiolepis barbara Plagiolepis barbara Plagiolepis maura Plagiolepis barbara Plagiolepis maura Pl. maura Revision of the Plagiolepis schmitzii group with description of Pl. invadens sp. nov. - a new invasive supercolonial species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Bernhard, Seifert Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 2020 2020-09-21 67 2 183 196 6959E7C7-FAD1-5974-9DCF-384A26A905C2 Santschi, 1911 Santschi 1911 Insecta Formicidae Plagiolepis CoL Animalia Plagiolepis barbara Hymenoptera 0 183 Arthropoda species barbara   Plagiolepis pygmaea var. barbaraSantschi, 1911 Two type workers were investigated from NHM Basel, labelled "Kairouan Tunisie Santschi. 1903", " Plagiolepis barbaratype Sant", "v. Plagiolepis barbaratype Sant", "ANTWEB CASENT0912428 top specimen".  Plagiolepis mauraSantschi, 1920 [syn. Plagiolepis barbara] The collection data published by Santschi are "Maroc: Mogador (Vaucher), avril 1905, types w, m,g. Tanger (Vaucher), Rabat (Thery)". One type worker was morphometrically investigated from NHM Basel, labelled "4.905 Mogador Vaucher", " Plagiolepis mauratype Sants", "ANTWEB CASENT0912424". This specimen belongs to the true type series as Santschi published only the Mogador specimens as types. Furthermore, no specimens in the Santschi collection from Tanger and Rabat are labelled as Pl. mauraor as types.  Material examined. A total of three samples with seven workers were subject to morphometric investigation.    Morocco: Mogador, 1905.04 (Vaucher), type  Pl. maura[ 31.508°N, 9.76°W,  4 malt.].   Tunisia: Kairouan, 1903, type  Pl. barbara[ 35.671°N, 10.099°E,  67 malt.];  Kairouan, 1920.03.07[ 35.671°N, 10.099°E,  67 malt.].  Diagnosis and taxonomy (Table 1, key, AntWeb, 2020: pictures of specimens CASENT0912424 and CASENT0912428):   Pl. barbaradiffers from  Pl. schmitziiby a much shorter scape and a shorter postocular distance, from  Pl. atlantisby larger eye and from  Pl. invadenssp. nov. by larger eye and much longer 3rd funiculus segment. The most similar species is  Pl. atlantisand it may be asked if there is a risk of synonymy, considering the small sample size in  Pl. barbara. This risk is low. Running a PCA with absolute head size and the 16 RAV-corrected shape, pubescence and surface characters, there is a very strong separation of all individuals by the first principal component (ANOVA, F1,61 149.0, p << 0.001):   Pl. atlantis-0.295 +/-0.532 [-1.337, 0.758] n = 56   Pl. barbara2.363 +/-0.638 [1.564, 3.311] n = 7  Distribution and biology. Distributed in west Mediterranean Africa. Biology unknown.  Excursus: The tramp-species-supercolony syndrome in  Plagiolepis   Plagiolepis invadenssp. nov. is, together with  Pl. schmitziiand  Pl. pygmaea, the third  Plagiolepisspecies known from areas north of the Alps to show anthropogenous introduction, supercoloniality and permanent outdoor nesting throughout the year. The situation in  Pl. schmitziiis commented in the species chapter above and is not entirely new, but the case of  Pl. pygmaeawith an apparently new dynamics towards supercoloniality in introduction areas needs commentary. According to samples sent to me during last the three decades and deposited in SMN Goerlitz,  Pl. pygmaeahas been anthropogenously introduced to settlements and inner urban areas - most of these are situated far north of its natural range. The first year of observation and localities are 1993 in Mainz-Hechtsheim ( 49.97°N, 8.27°E), 2007 in Berlin-Koepenick( 52.49°N, 13.57°E), 2011 in Hanhofen ( 49.31°N, 8.34°E), 2019 in Hassloch( 49.37°N, 8.24°E), 2019 in Zurich ( 47.39°N, 8.49°E) and 2020 in Luetzelsachsen( 49.52°N, 8.66°E). In three cases, introduction with plant material was apparent and, in the last two localities (Zurich and Luetzelsachsen), the formation of supercolonies was observed. Are there general traits or pre-adaptations in  Plagiolepisants for a career as a tramp species, for eventual transformation to supercoloniality and for developing a competitive advantage - traits that might also explain the sudden emergence of  Pl. invadenssp. nov. as if from nowhere? There are four  Plagiolepisspecies with known mating scenarios and colony demography: the Palaearctic  Pl. pygmaea, Pl. cf. tauricaand  Pl. schmitzii, studied by Thurin et al. (2011)and  Pl. alluaudiEmery, 1894 from the tropics of the old world observed by Buschinger (2012)in greenhouses of the Darmstadt Botanical Garden. All four species share characters facilitating anthropogenous introduction and transition to supercoloniality: (a) very small size, (b) wide food spectrum, (c) strong tendency for intranidal mating and (d) high degree of polygyny. A single medium-sized flower pot allows long-term survival and reproduction of these tiny ants and, placed at the right spot, it may serve as a beach head for supercolony formation by nest splitting. Another factor is probably also important for the success of  Plagiolepisants. At least for  Pl. taurica, we have direct observations that an unidentified secretion emitted from the gaster tip is extremely toxic and repellent to other ant species ( Seifert 2018) and which may explain that it is tolerated within the territories of dominant ants.  Pl. tauricamay share a bait or trophobiont colony with so-called dominant ants or even displace these. These observations are repeated in other species:  Pl. pygmaeawas the only ant species allowed to co-exist and move freely within the territory of a  Linepithema humile(Mayr, 1868) supercolonies in France and Spain ( Charrier et al. 2020) and  Pl. alluaudiwas observed in the Bermudas ( Smith 1957), New Caledonia ( Le Breton 2003) and the Great Barrier Reef islands ( Burwell et al. 2012) to show, in contrast to other ants, no population decrease in the presence of dominant supercolonial  Pheidole megacephala(Fabricius, 1793). 2020-01-01 2020-12-31 2020-01-01 Morocco 4 31.508 Mogador 476 -9.76 1 type 2020-01-01 2020-12-31 2020-01-01 Tunisia 67 35.671 Kairouan 71 10.099 1 Kairouan type 1920-03-07 Tunisia 67 35.671 Kairouan 71 10.099 1 Kairouan