Lasius fuliginosus (Latreille, 1798)

Boudinot, Brendon E., Borowiec, Marek L. & Prebus, Matthew M., 2022, Phylogeny, evolution, and classification of the ant genus Lasius, the tribe Lasiini and the subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Systematic Entomology 47, pp. 113-151 : 137

2. Species group of fuliginosus (= Dendrolasius )

( Figs 8B , 9B )

Constituent species (8): buccatus Stärcke [], capitatus (Kuznetsov-Ugamsky) [e], fuji Radchenko [], fuliginosus * [e], morisitai Yamauchi [], nipponensis Forel [e], orientalis Karavaiev [e], spathepus [e].

Distribution: Palaearctic.

Identification: Universally identifiable among Lasius for their jet-black and shining (polished) cuticle, and their weakly to strongly cordate (posteriorly emarginate) heads; unique among the niger clade in bearing an offset basal tooth on the mandible. Species-level identification of all fuliginosus species is presented in Radchenko (2005a); note that Lasius buccatus is known only from the queen and male castes ( Stärcke, 1942).

Figures

Fig. 8. Gross phenotypic synopsis of the extant species groups of Lasius, plus two phenotypically similar fossil species; all images in full-face view; scale bars = 0.5 mm. (A) Lasius brunneus (CASENT0280440); (B) Lasius fuliginosus (CASENT0179898); (C) Lasius nr. niger (CASENT0106128); (D) Lasius nr. atopus (CASENT0234858); (E) Lasius carniolicus (CASENT0280471); (F) Lasius claviger (CASENT0103542); (G) Lasius brevicornis (CASENT0280456); (H) Lasius nearcticus (CASENT0104774); (I) Lasius pallitarsis (CASENT0005405); (J) Lasius aphidicola (CASENT0280468); (K) †Lasius schiefferdeckeri (MNHNB25217); (L) †Kyromyrma neffi (AMNH-NJ1029). (Image credits: D = the authors; AntWeb: A = Will Ericson; B = Erin Prado; C = Michael Branstetter; E, G, J = Shannon Hartman; F, H = April Nobile; I = unknown; K = Vincent Perrichot; L = Dave Grimaldi & Vincent Perrichot.)

Fig. 9. Gross phenotypic synopsis of the species groups of Lasius, plus two phenotypically similar fossil species; all images in profile view; scale bars = 1.0 mm; scale bar unavailable for K. (A) Lasius brunneus (CASENT0280440); (B) Lasius fuliginosus (CASENT0179898); (C) Lasius nr. niger (CASENT0106128); (D) Lasius nr. atopus (CASENT0234858); (E) Lasius carniolicus (CASENT0280471); (F) Lasius claviger (CASENT0103542); (G) Lasius brevicornis (CASENT0280456); (H) Lasius nearcticus (CASENT0104774); (I) Lasius pallitarsis (CASENT0005405); (J) Lasius aphidicola (CASENT0280468); (K) †Lasius schiefferdeckeri (HJF013); (L) †Kyromyrma neffi (AMNH-NJ1029). (Image credits: D = the authors; AntWeb: A = Will Ericson; B = Erin Prado; C = Michael Branstetter; E, G, J = Shannon Hartman; F, H = April Nobile; I = unknown; K = Vincent Perrichot; L = Dave Grimaldi & Vincent Perrichot.)