Taxonomy of the Palearctic socially parasitic Temnothorax (Myrmoxenus) ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

The ant genus Temnothorax is one of the most diverse in the Palearctic region, comprising several species with different life histories and uncertain taxonomic backgrounds. Socially parasitic Temnothorax ant species were typically described decades ago, primarily based on traditional morphological traits. In some aspects, these species have come back into the spotlight in recent years, necessitating a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the species of the genus.

Ecological diversification preceded geographical expansion during the evolutionary radiation of desert ants.

Biological diversity often arises as organisms adapt to new ecological conditions (i.e., ecological opportunities) or colonize suitable areas (i.

A striking color variation is detected in Emery, 1895 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) across its Western Palaearctic geographic range.

In this paper, we provide numeric morphology-based evidence that the dark-colored Poneracoarctatavar.lucida Emery, 1898, formerly considered a synonym of (Latreille, 1802), is conspecific with the lighter-colored Emery, 1895. Species hypotheses are developed via NC-PART clustering, combined with Partitioning Algorithm based on Recursive Thresholding (PART), and via PCA combined with gap statistics.

Evolutionary history of inquiline social parasitism in Plagiolepis ants.

Social parasitism, i.e. the parasitic dependence of a social species on another free-living social species, is one of the most intriguing phenomena in social insects.

Review of the group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Aegean with the description of a new species.

Based on recently collected material, the group is redefined, and its members known from the Aegean region are diagnosed. is described from İzmir Province, Turkey. Tohmé, 1969 is proposed as a junior synonym of André, 1881 and Emery, 1920 as a junior synonym of (Roger, 1859).