Three endemic Aphaenogaster from the Siculo-Maltese archipelago and the Italian Peninsula: part of a hitherto unrecognized species group from the Maghreb? (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae)
Alicata Antonio, Schifani Enrico
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 59(1): 1-16, 2019
Published online: 28th January 2019
Published in print: 10th August 2019
Views: 1717
Abstract: More than 100 years ago, the Italian myrmecologist Carlo Emery described two
endemic Sicilian ants: Aphaenogaster sicula Emery, 1908, which he originally
considered a subspecies of A. crocea André, 1881, and A. fiorii Emery,
1915 stat. nov., which he believed was a subspecies of A. gibbosa (Latreille,
1798). Males of the two species and the queen of A. fiorii were never described.
The scarcity of information contained in the original description led to several
misunderstandings by subsequent authors: for example, A. sicula was later
elevated to species-rank on the basis of misidentified material of A. fiorii
stat. nov. We redescribe the two species, adding the descriptions of their
missing castes and designating their lectotypes. We also describe a third
related species of the genus: A. trinacriae sp. nov. from Sicily. The ecology
and distribution of the three are illustrated. Their relationship with the other
congeneric species of the Mediterranean basin is discussed considering the
morphology of all three castes, with attention to the often-overlooked males.
Despite the fact that A. fiorii and A. sicula were lately believed to be close
relatives of A. subterranea (Latreille, 1798), the morphological elements
available suggest that they probably belong to a separate, hitherto unrecognized
clade from the Maghreb (North-Western Africa), together with A. trinacriae
sp. nov.
Key words: Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Stenammini, allopatric speciation, ant males, biogeography, Mediterranean basin, Palaearctic Region