Tetramorium kulickae Radchenko &amp; Dlussky 2015, sp. n.
Creators: name: Radchenko, A. G.
name: Dlussky, G. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Tetramorium
Tetramorium kulickae

description: <i>Tetramorium kulickae</i> sp. n. <i>Leptothorax</i> sp. C: Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, 2001: 59. <i>Tetramorium</i> sp. B: Dlussky, Rasnitsyn, 2009: 1032. M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: worker, holotype, No. 20246, Muzeum Ziemi PAN, Baltic Amber, Gdansk-Stogi, Poland. E t y m o l o g y. The species is dedicated the memory of Polish palaeoentomologist, Dr. Ró&amp;zdot;a Kulicka (1944–1999). W o r k e r (fig. 3–5). Head longer than broad, with subparallel sides, very feebly concave occipital margin and rounded occipital corners. Lateral portions of clypeus raised in both sides into a sharp shield-like ridge in front of antennal insertions, so that antennal sockets separated from clypeal surface. Eye well developed, of moderate size. Anterior clypeal margin convex. Antenna 12-segmented, with 3-segmented apical club, scape short, far not reaching occipital margin. Mesosoma low (ML/MH 2.89), with distinct but shallow metanotal groove, promesonotum somewhat flattened. Propodeum with blunt denticles. Petiole with quite long peduncle, strongly concave anterior surface, its node not high, with widely rounded dorsum (PL/PW 1.17, PL/ PH 1.40) Postpetiole subglobular (PPL/PPW 1.00). Spurs on the mid and hind tibia are obscure. Whole mesosoma with quite coarse longitudinal, slightly sinuous rugosity. Sculpture on head barely visible, but head seems to be longitudinally rugose; petiolar and postpetiolar nodes seem to be coarsely punctated. Mesosomal dorsum with long, thin erect hairs. Total length ca 2.5–2.7 mm. Measurements (in mm): ML 0.81, MH 0.28, PL 0.21, PH 0.15, PW 0.18, PPL 0.15, PPW 0.15. Queen and male unknown. Taxonomic notes Kosmowska-Ceranowicz (2001) recorded two species from the Baltic Amber collected near Gdansk (Stogi) in the Catalogue of amber collection of Tadeusz Giecewicz, deposited in the Museum of the Earth. Their collecting numbers fully correspond with those of <i>T. paparamatum</i> and <i>T. kulickae</i>, and determined by her as <i>Tetramorium</i> sp. n. and <i>Leptothorax</i> sp., respectively. Dlussky, Rasnitsyn (2009) recorded three undescribed species of this genus from the Baltic and Rovno ambers. Two of them from Baltic amber we described above, but record from the Rovno amber was based on misidentification, and we identify now this specimen as <i>Fallomyrma transversa</i> Dlussky et Radchenko, 2006. Radchenko (1992 a, b) established six species groups for <i>Tetramorium</i> of the former USSR. One of them, <i>inerme</i> group, is characterized by the relatively small queens with flattened scutum and scutellum, scutum is narrowed anteriorly so that anterio-lateral angles of pronotum are visible from above. Additionally, body sculpture in queens and workers reduced, head dorsum and mesosoma mostly smooth or at most with the fine striation. We placed <i>T. paraarmatum</i> sp. n. to this group. The species of <i>caespitum</i> group have much bigger queens, their scutum distinctly convex, not narrowed anteriorly, so that anterio-lateral angles of pronotum covered by scutum and invisible or very barely visible from above. Body sculpture of queens and workers well developed, head dorsum and mesosoma longitudinally rugulose, while this sculpture in not very coarse. Since we described <i>T. kulickae</i> sp. n. based on workers, we tentatively place it to this group. Based on the main diagnostic features, e. g., the body size, the shape of mesosoma, the reduced body sculpture, presence of distinct propodeal teeth, <i>T. paraarmatum</i> sp. n. resembles modern species <i>T. armatum</i>. At the same time, <i>T. kulickae</i> sp. n. is similar to modern species of <i>Tetramorium caespitum</i> group, e. g., <i>T. caespitum</i> s. l., <i>T. impurum</i> (Foerster, 1850) or <i>T. hungaricum</i> Röszler, 1935. Nevertheless, we do not think that modern ant species might exist in the Late Eocene, what is supported by the all existing data. For example, several fossil Late Eocene amber ant species are very similar to modern ones, e. g. extinct <i>Formica flori</i> Mayr, 1868 to extant <i>F. fusca</i> Linnaeus, 1758, <i>Lasius schiefferdeckeri</i> Mayr, 1868 to <i>L. niger</i> Linnaeus, 1758, etc., but no one doubts their heterospecifity.
description: Published as part of <i>Radchenko, A. G. &amp; Dlussky, G. M., 2015, First Record Of Fossil Species Of The Genus Tetramorium (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), pp. 311-316 in Vestnik Zoologii 49 (4)</i> on pages 313-315, DOI: 10.1515/vzoo-2015-0033, http://zenodo.org/record/6452478
description: {"references": ["Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, B., ed. 2001. The amber treasure trove. Part I. In: The Tadeusz Giecewicz's collection at the Museum of the Earth. Polish Academy of Science. Sadyba, Warsaw, 1 - 97.", "Dlussky, G. M., Rasnitsyn, A. P. 2009. Ants (Insecta: Vespida: Formicidae) in the Upper Eocene Amber of Central and Eastern Europe. Paleontological Journal, 43 (9), 1024 - 1042 [In Russian].", "Radchenko, A. G. 1992 a. Ants of the genus Tetramorium of the fauna of USSR. Communication 1. Zoologichesky Zhurnal, 71 (8), 39 - 49 [In Russian]."]}