Cardiocondyla elegans var. eleonorae Forel 1911

Seifert, Bernhard, 2023, A revision of the Palaearctic species of the ant genus Cardiocondyla Emery 1869 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 5274 (1), pp. 1-64 : 37-38

Cardiocondyla elegans var. eleonorae Forel 1911 [types investigated]

This taxon has been described from Smyrna (Izmir) in Turkey. Investigated were four worker syntypes, labelled “ C.e. var. eleonorae Forel , type, Plage de Cocarimali pr. Smyrne”, MHN Genève .

All material examined. Numeric phenotypical data were taken in 40 samples with 102 workers from Bulgaria (8 samples), Greece (3), North Makedonia (1), Turkey (27) and unknown locality (1). For details see supplementary information SI1, SI2. One fully typical worker specimen of Cardiocondyla bulgarica was placed by Cedric Collingwood together with 2 workers of C. nigra into a tube labelled “ 30 km S of Medenine / Tunisia ”. Whereas the occurrence of C. nigra at this locality is certainly a matter of fact, it appears impossible that a Balkan-Turkish ant, not showing any tramp species properties, might occur in small village in the Sahara Desert. The most probable reason for this disturbing observation is that Collingwood transferred the C. bulgarica worker after side-by-side stereomicroscopic comparison with unmounted specimens from other localities into a wrong tube.

Geographic range. C. bulgarica is so far only known from a comparably small area in the S Balkans and Asia Minor but it is the most abundant Cardiocondyla species in this region. The findings range from the 21.7°E to 41.1°E, 36.2°N to 42.6°N and from sea level up to 1800 m.

Diagnosis: --Worker ( Tab. 2 , Figs. 42–45 , key; images CASENT0179879, CASENT0904462, CASENT0908338, and CASENT0908339 in www.antweb.org). Medium-sized, CS 512 µm. Head much elongated, CL/CW 1.201. Postocular distance very large, PoOc/CL 0.451. Scape moderately long, SL/CS 0.809. Eye medium-sized, EYE/ CS 0.240. Median third of hind margin of head straight or slightly concave. Frons broad (FRS/CS 0.260), frontal carinae immediately caudal of FRS level usually parallel, sometimes slightly diverging, rarely converging (FL/FR 1.007). Dorsal profile of promesonotum and of propodeum convex with a well-developed metanotal depression (MGr/CS 3.32 %). Spines rather short (SP/CS 0.112), usually triangular in lateral view with the spine axis deviating 42° from longitudinal mesosomal axis; spine bases widely distant, SPBA/CS 0.279. Petiole very wide and as high as wide (PeW/CS 0.338, PeH/CS 0.337), its node wider than long, in profile with a moderately long peduncle that is about 1.6fold as long as high and with a rather steep anterior slope of the node (about 63° relative to ventral profile). Postpetiole relatively wide and high (PpW/CS 0.557, PpH/CS 0.311) but only 1.65fold as wide as petiole and not heart-shaped in dorsal view; postpetiolar sternite with weak anteromedian bulge. Clypeus rather smooth, weak lateral carinulae and suggestions of foveolae may be present. Frontal laminae, area posterior of frontal lobes and genae finely longitudinally carinulate-rugulose. Vertex with shallow but well-demarcated foveolae of 17.0 µm mean diameter; interspaces about as wide as foveolae, glabrous and with fragments of very fine stickman-like structures ( Fig. 45 ). Mesosoma in overall impression more or less glabrous, only with very delicate reticular structures; promesonotum with scattered, shallow foveolae; meso- and metapleurae with suggestions of longitudinal carinulae. Waist segments smooth and shiny. First gaster tergite glabrous. Pubescence on gaster tergites short and dilute, PLG/CS 5.66 %, sqPDG 5.02. Head usually medium brown with a warm yellowish tinge, sometimes dark brown. Mesosoma and petiole varying between yellow and medium brown, but warm yellowish tinge even in darkest specimens always visible. Postpetiole yellowish brown to dark brown. Gaster dark brown. Pigmentation contrast between dorsal head and mesosoma usually clearly expressed, PigCap/PigMes 1.38 ±0.24 [1.0,2.0].

Taxonomic comments and clustering results. On the nest sample level and without selection among all 17 available NUMOBAT characters, 40 samples of Cardiocondyla bulgarica are separable from 48 samples of the similar species C. sahlbergi and C. persiana by five exploratory data analyses with a mean error of 0.45% ( Fig. 137 ). All type specimens of C. bulgarica and C. eleonorae were allocated by a LDA to the C. bulgarica cluster with p> 0.999.

Biology. Cardiocondyla bulgarica seems to use a wider habitat spectrum than other species. It was found in xerothermous grasslands, a sandy salt marsh, a forest-covered stream course and in a woodland-steppe with Pinus .

Figures

FIGURE 137. Separation of nest samples of Cardiocondyla bulgarica (black bars) from a combined cluster of C. sahlbergi and C. persiana (red bars) by NC-Ward, NC-part.hclust, NC-part.kmeans, NC-NMDS.kmeans clustering and a principal component analysis. The white bar indicates an outlier in NC-part.hclust. The mean classification error of the four exploratory data analyses relative to the controlling linear discriminant analysis is 0.45%.All 17 available NUMOBAT characters were processed without character selection.

FIGURES 42–45. Cardiocondyla bulgarica; Fig. 42: head in dorsal view; Fig. 43: lateral view; Fig. 44: dorsal view; Fig. 45: head surface between inner eye margin and paramedian vertex. Bulgaria: Burgas-7 km S, 2003.09.30