Ants - Formicidae, Lasius brevicornis?

*Tentative ID

Habitat: Under a rock in a deciduous forest

comments (9)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Nice! Perhaps....

https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Lasius_flavus

...it's just a guess. But would be very cool as they don't often appear above ground. Posted 4 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  That really looks like it could be them! They were quite small and huddled together on the rock when I exposed them. Most were subterranean. Posted 4 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Nice! Just spotted this text though:
    
    "The yellow meadow ant, (also yellow hill ant, formal name Lasius flavus), is one of the most common ants in Central Europe, and it also occurs in Asia and North Africa, but populations in North America are a different, related species (Lasius brevicornis)"
    
    So may be Lasius brevicornis instead. Posted 4 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Okay, thanks. I wonder if Lasius brevicornis is a separate, recognized species? Or, maybe a subspecies? I just tried to update the ID and it kicked back to L. flavus. Posted 4 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        "Schar et al. (2018): Lasius brevicornis Emery, 1893 stat. nov. was treated as a full species until it was placed in synonymy with La. flavus by Wilson (1955). This study supports its removal from synonymy and treatment as a full species. The junior synonyms Lasius brevicornis microps Wheeler, 1917, Lasius flavus claripennis Wheeler, 1917 and Lasius helvus Cook, 1953 should be transferred from synonymy with Lasius flavus and treated as junior synonyms of Lasius brevicornis."
        
        So first it was a full species, then it wasn't, and now it is again. Except that Wikipedia still thinks it isn't. Clear, right? Posted 4 years ago
      2. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Disentangled the synonyms now and made a separate record. Feel free to enrich it, it's quite basic now :) Posted 4 years ago
      3. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Great, thanks! Posted 4 years ago