Tetramorium ferox silhavyi Kratochvíl, 1941

Bezděčková, Klára, Bezděčka, Pavel, Macek, Ján & Malenovský, Igor, 2017, Catalogue of type specimens of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) deposited in Czech museums, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 57 (1), pp. 295-308 : 305

Tetramorium ferox silhavyi Kratochvíl, 1941

Tetramorium (Lobomyrmex) ferox šilhavýi [sic!] Kratochvíl, 1941 in NOVÁK & SADIL (1941): 84, Fig. X (original description, key).

Five syntypes are deposited in MHJC (all dry-mounted):

SYNTYPES (3 ♁♁ 1 a ♀ each glued on a small rectangular label and all together on one larger card label ca. 40 × 16 mm): ‘ Tetramorium / ferrox [sic] / Šilhavýi. Krat. [hw] // Tetramorium ferrox [sic] / ♀ šilhavýi Krat. / Mohelno, cotypy, 05062 [hw] // Syntypus / (Bezděčková et al. 2017) [p, red label]’ [IN: E26-T10–E26-T13].

SYNTYPE (1 d ♀, only head with one antenna and thorax with one leg glued on a card label ca. 40 × 16 mm): ‘ Tetramorium / ferrox [sic] / šilhavýi Krat. [hw] // Tetramorium ferrox [sic] ♀ / šilhavýi Krat. / Mohelno – paratyp, 05063 [hw] // Syntypus / (Bezděčková et al. 2017) [p, red label]’ [IN: E26-T14].

Current status. Junior subjective synonym of Tetramorium ferox Ruzsky, 1903 according to BOLTON (2016).

Remarks. The description was originally prepared by Josef Kratochvíl for publication in the proceedings on the fauna of the Mohelno serpentine steppe, which was, however, released later ( KRATOCHVÍL 1944) than the identification key by NOVÁK & SADIL (1941) including a short description based on Kratochvíl’s manuscript and citing Kratochvíl as the author of the new name. Therefore, the text in NOVÁK & SADIL (1941) has priority for nomenclature.

Neither NOVÁK & SADIL (1941) nor KRATOCHVÍL (1944) provided any information on the number of the type specimens or the type locality; they only stated that T. ferox silhavyi was known from Moravia, Slovakia and Hungary. Based on the fact that the taxon was listed among new forms of ants discovered in the Mohelno serpentine steppe ( KRATOCHVÍL 1944) and based on the locality data of the specimens in MHJC, at least a part of the type series was collected in Mohelno ( Czech Republic, Moravia). Four specimens deposited in MHJC were originally labelled as cotypes (“cotypy”) and one specimen as a paratype, but no specimen designated as a holotype is avalaible. Therefore, we consider all these specimens syntypes.