Camponotus universitatis Forel, 1890

Lapeva-Gjonova, Albena, Csősz, Sándor & Mifsud, David, 2024, Further records of social parasitic ants in Europe and review of the Bulgarian species, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 123575-e 123575 : e123575-

Camponotus universitatis Forel, 1890

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: BFUS-I-AG 001023 (EtOH), BFUS-I-AG 001996 (pinned) ; occurrenceRemarks: found with Camponotus aethiops (Latreille, 1798) under a stone; recordedBy: A. Lapeva-Gjonova; individualCount: 6; sex: workers; preparations: 6 in EtOH, 1 pinned; occurrenceID: 79702482-B056-5A3A-A669-4C2DA01699BE; Taxon: scientificName: Camponotus universitatis Forel, 1890 ; order: Hymenoptera ; family: Formicidae ; taxonRank: species; Location: country: Albania; county: Gjirokastër; municipality: Përmet; locality: Frasher 3 ; minimumElevationInMeters: 1365; decimalLatitude: 40.35624; decimalLongitude: 20.41197; Event: samplingProtocol: hand collecting; eventDate: 18-06 - 2023; habitat: pine forest; Record Level: basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Notes

The species is an inquiline in the nests of Camponotus aethiops (Latreille, 1798) and C. pilicornis Roger, 1859 , with few known localities in southern Europe ( Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Albania, Bulgaria) and Anatolia ( Karaman et al. 2015). It is clearly distinguished from other European species of Camponotus by its small size (about 5 mm in workers) and shiny body with standing claviform setae, which are also present on the dorsal side of the legs (Fig. 4 a ). The new finding of C. universitatis comes from a nest of the typical ant host for the Balkans, C. aethiops , in a pine forest of the Hotova National Park (Gjirokastër County) (Fig. 4 b ). After Andoni (1977), who first reported the species from two localities in Albania (Vlorë and Nivicë), this is a new record for this country after almost 50 years.

Figures

Figure 4 a. worker, scale: 1 mm;

Figure 4 b. collecting site in Albania.