@article {1807, title = {Taxonomic Synopsis of the Ponto-Mediterranean Ants of Temnothorax nylanderi Species-Group}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {10}, year = {2015}, abstract = {

In the current revisionary work, the Temnothorax nylanderi species-group of myrmicine ants is characterized. Eighteen species belonging to this group in the Ponto-Mediterranean region are described or redefined based on an integrative approach that combines exploratory analyses of morphometric data and of a 658bp fragment of the mitochondrial gene for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (CO I). The species group is subdivided into five species complexes: T. angustifrons complex, T. lichtensteini complex, T. nylanderi complex, T. parvulus complex, T. sordidulus complex, and two species, T. angulinodis sp. n. and T. flavicornis (Emery, 1870) form their own lineages. We describe seven new species (T. angulinodis sp. n., T. angustifrons sp. n., T. ariadnae sp. n., T. helenae sp. n., T. lucidus sp. n., T. similis sp. n., T. subtilis sp. n.), raise T. tergestinus (FINZI, 1928) stat.n. to species level, and propose a new junior synonymy for T. saxonicus (SEIFERT, 1995) syn.n. (junior synonym of T. tergestinus). We describe the worker caste and provide high quality images and distributional maps for all eighteen species. Furthermore, we provide a decision tree as an alternative identification key that visually gives an overview of this species-group. We make the first application to Formicidae of the Semantic Phenotype approach that has been used in previous taxonomic revisions.

}, doi = {doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140000}, author = {Cs{\H o}sz, S{\'a}ndor and Heinze, J{\"u}rgen and Mik{\'o},Istv{\'a}n} } @article {1796, title = {Cryptic diversity in the Mediterranean Temnothorax lichtensteini species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)}, journal = {Organisms Diversity \& Evolution}, year = {2013}, pages = {1-14}, abstract = {

In this paper we provide insight into the cryptic diversity and biogeographic patterns of a widely distributed Mediterranean ant species, Temnothorax lichtensteini (Bondroit Annales de la Soci\ét\é Entomologique de France 87:1\–174, 1918), based on evidence from multiple data sources. An exploratory analysis of morphometric data, combined with sequencing of a 652 bp fragment of the mitochondrial gene for
the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (CO I), indicates the existence of three distinct lineages. Divergence of two recognised genetic lineages, Western and Eastern Mediterranean clusters, is not reliably supported by confirmatory analysis of morphological data. We hypothesise that this reflects incomplete speciation in separate glacial refugia and therefore discuss only biogeographic aspects of these two parapatric populations. However, the third, Peloponnese, lineage is divergent in both morphology and CO I sequences and its separation from the other two lineages is convincingly confirmed. For this lineage we assume a completed speciation and describe the taxon formally as Temnothorax laconicus sp.n., the sister species of T. lichtensteini.

}, keywords = {Biogeography, Cryptic species, Exploratory data analysis, Integrative taxonomy, Morphometrics, taxonomy}, doi = {10.1007/s13127-013-0153-3}, author = {Cs{\H o}sz, S{\'a}ndor and Seifert, Bernhard and M{\"u}ller, Benedikt and Trindl, Andreas and Schulz, Andreas and Heinze, J{\"u}rgen} }