Crematogaster auberti Emery

Sharaf, Mostafa R., Aldawood, Abdulrahman S. & Garcia, Francisco Hita, 2019, Review of the Arabian Crematogaster Lund (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), synoptic list, distribution, and description of two new species from Oman and Saudi Arabia, ZooKeys 898, pp. 27-81 : 27

Crematogaster auberti Emery Figure 10 A–C

Taxonomic history.

Crematogaster (Acrocoelia) auberti Emery, 1869a: 23 (footnote) (w.) FRANCE; André 1883: 395 (q.); Emery 1891: 14 (m.).

Combination in Crematogaster (Acrocoelia) : Emery 1922: 142; in Crematogaster ( Crematogaster) : Bolton 1995: 166.

Subspecies of C. scutellaris : Emery and Forel 1879: 464; of C. schmidti : Emery 1891: 14; of C. inermis : Emery 1926: 3.

Status as species: Forel 1894b: 24; Forel 1902: 152; Bondroit 1918: 115; Karavaiev 1927: 104; Finzi 1930: 15; Santschi 1937: 300.

Current subspecies: C. auberti karawaewi Ruzsky, C. auberti levithorax Forel, C. auberti nigripes Menozzi, C. auberti regilla Santschi, C. auberti savinae Zimmermann, C. auberti vogti Forel.

Senior synonym of Crematogaster auberti var. iberica Forel, 1909: 103 (w.) SPAIN.

Junior synonym of C. auberti : Collingwood 1978: 69.

Material examined.

KSA: Riyadh, Al Ammaryia, 24.794167N, 46.423333E, 648 m, 21.i.2010 (Aldawood AS) (12 w, KSMA); Eastern province, Buqaiq, 25.962222N, 49.647139E, 95 m, 03.iii.2011 (Al Dhafer et al.) (2 w, KSMA); Egypt: Alexandria, 07.v.1899 (1w, BMNH); Algeria: Bona, 24.xi.1993 (2 w, BMNH); Morocco: Tamri N. de Agadir, 13-17.iii.1961 (Meinander) (3 w, BMNH).

Geographic range.

This species was initially described from France and seems to have a broad distribution range from the south of France, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Canary Islands through all of North Africa to the Middle East, but is also found throughout the Balkans ( Sharaf 2006; Borowiec and Salata 2012; Borowiec 2014; Guénard et al. 2017; Janicki et al. 2017). On the Arabian Peninsula it has been only recorded from the KSA ( Collingwood 1985; Collingwood and Agosti 1996; Borowiec and Salata 2012; Borowiec 2014) ( Fig. 11 ).

Remarks.

This is likely one of the most problematic species treated in this study. The taxonomic history provided above is complex with numerous status changes and infraspecific taxa. Borowiec (2014) states that all records from the eastern parts of the Mediterranean region are doubtful and likely misidentifications. If so, this would mean that the material from KSA is probably another species. However, at present and without a meaningful treatment of the European Crematogaster fauna, it is not possible for us to ascertain the genuine identity of this species. Thus, we maintain it as C. auberti for the moment and await further study of type material in European collections which might help elucidate its real identity.

Figures

Figure 10. C. auberti A body in profile B body in dorsal view C head in full-face view, CASENT 0908470 (Will Ericson), www. AntWeb. org.

Figure 11. Distribution map of C. auberti and C. delagoensis.