Lasius cyperus, Seifert, 2020

Seifert, Bernhard, 2020, A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the subgenus Lasius s. str. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), Soil Organisms 92 (1), pp. 15-86 : 65-66

4.4.31 Lasius cyperus sp. nov.

Etymology. The name refers to the terra typica Cyprus.

Type material. Holotype and two paratype workers on the same pin labelled ”CYPERN – 11 Prov. Limassol, Platres 1200 mH Leg. Sanetra, 28.03.94“; 9 paratype workers on three other pins from the holotype nest with the same labelling; depository SMN Görlitz.

Geographicrange.OnlythetypesamplefromCyprusisknown.

Diagnosis ( Tab. 6 , Figs. 59 –60; key):

Medium-sized (CS 894 µm). Head length index low (CL/CW 900 1.058), scape short (SL/CS 900 0.954), postocular distance rather small (PoOc/CL 900 0.234); eye size rather small (EYE/CS 900 0.229); terminal segment of maxillary of medium length (MP6/CS 900 0.188). Number of mandibular dents medium (MaDe 900 8.24). Pubescence on clypeus and on petiole scale extremely sparse (sqPDCL 900 5.90). All body parts with very long and numerous standing setae (PnHL/CS 900 0.172, GuHL/ CS 900 0.138, nGu 900 17.3, nHT 900 27.5), those on hind margin of vertex extremely long, those on scape shorter and less numerous. Coloration: head, mesosoma, and gaster brown with a yellowish component. Scape and tibiae (in particular fore tibiae) yellowish.

Biology. Unknown.

Comments. Lasius cyperus sp. nov. is a sister species of L. platythorax and probably endemic to Cyprus. It differs from platythorax by the smaller postocular distance, the shorter and fewer scape setae, the yellowish component of body color, the extremely long setae on posterior margin of vertex, and the much less pubescent petiole scale. Considering 15 standard NUMOBAT characters (nGen excluded because of incomplete data), a principal component analysis places five workers of the type sample of L. cyperus clearly separate from 111 L. platythorax workers. This result is repeated on the nest sample level by NMDS clustering.

Figures

Figs. 59 and 60: Lasius cyperus sp. nov.; holotype