The extreme, workerless inquilines.

[Teleutotje]

Something happend a few days ago..... A terrible new name was published...

[Merkur]

Neue Namen für teils altbekannte Ameisenarten: Replacement names for junior homonyms in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Brian L. Fisher, 2025.
https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/162607/ Hier ist der direkte Link zu der Publikation.
Das Abstract nennt nur die 40 (!) neuen Namen, die entsprechend den Int. Nomenklaturregeln für bisher ungeklärte Homonyme etc. vergeben wurden. Die Arbeit ist frei zugänglich, so dass man direkt nachsehen kann, welche bisherigen Namen ersetzt wurden.
Gewöhnungsbedürftig sind Artepitheta, die nichts bedeuten: Eine freie Buchstabenkombination ist nach den Regeln gestattet. So gibt es jetzt Tetramorium drunex, T. fenix und T. flinex. Letztere gehörte einmal als Teleutomyrmex kutteri in die berühmte Gattung Teleutomyrmex, die „Endameise“, hochgradig spezialisierte Sozialparasiten bei Tetramorium spp.. Die Gattung Teleutomyrmex wurde bereits vor 10 Jahren in Tetramorium eingegliedert. Die Art T. kutteri aus der spanischen Sierra Nevada ist jetzt also unter Tetramorium flinex zu suchen. Zur Biologie der betroffenen Arten gibt es nichts Neues.

Abstract aus Fischer 2025

Formal ist das in Ordnung, so weit ich es beurteilen kann. Unerfreulich ist, dass nun noch weiterer Name produziert wurde. Eine Alternative wäre es vielleicht gewesen, die von Tinaut aus der spanischen Sierra Nevada beschriebene Art nach ihrer Herkunft zu benennen, oder nach ihrem ursprünglichen Autor. Das jetzt eingesetzte "flinex" ermöglicht keinerlei Assoziation zu etwas Bekanntem.

Meine persönliche, unpublizierte Meinung ist ohnehin, dass es sich bei den ehemaligen Teleutomyrmex-Arten samt und sonders um eine einzige Art handelt, deren heute wohl kleine Populationen evtl. im Postglazial separiert und zumeist in Gebirgs-Hochlagen isoliert wurden, so dass sie inzwischen geringe lokale Unterschiede in der Morphologie entwickeln konnten. Ich vermute, dass die "Arten" allenfalls als Unterarten passend einzuordnen wären. Vielleicht findet auch diese Idee noch mal ihren Weg in das offizielle System der Gruppe, so dass sie nicht mehr so weit verteilt in der riesigen Gattung Tetramorium verschwinden würden.

MfG,
Merkur

[Teleutotje]

I used ChatGpt (AI) yesterday to look up Teleutomyrmex.... In the past I got from good to bad answers.... Yesterday again bad: A Leptothorax related genus, small but degenerated workers,.... Euch!

[Merkur]

Don't ever believe AI!
Best wishes,
Merkur

[Teleutotje]

“Donisthorpe, H., 1915.”, for Anergates atratulus, about Crawley, W. C., 1912.

“Crawley’s observation nest contained a large number of winged female Tetramorium, males, and pupae, besides workers, obtained in June, 1912, at Seaton. Two of the females had recently got rid of their wings in the nest, whether they had been impregnated by their brothers, or not, is unknown, but this point is important in view of the fact that the nest contained no old fertile queen. On July 25th, 1912, an Anergates female holding a Tetramorium worker by the tip of an antenna was introduced into this nest and by the next day she was definitely accepted as queen. In a few days’ time all the Tetramorium males and females were killed and cut up by the workers and their bodies piled in a heap, and from thence onward the Anergates female was always treated as their queen, and her gaster commenced to swell, though unfortunately she died in the early part of the next year, without having laid any eggs.”.

“It seems fairly certain from these experiments, that when an Anergates female has entered a Tetramorium nest, and has been accepted by the Tetramorium workers – the seizing of the antennae of the latter by the female being probably an important factor in this acceptance (Adlerz in his recent book also records this fact.) – the latter then kill their own queen, or males and winged females if present, and devote themselves to the rearing of the offspring of the parasite; but it also seems probable that these acceptances are of rare occurrence, and it should be noted that no Anergates brood has actually been reared in captivity.”.

Donisthorpe, H., 1915 refers here to Crawley, W. C., 1912, Crawley, W. C., Donisthorpe, H., 1913 and Adlerz, G. A., 1913. He even gives details Crawley doesn’t give!

[Teleutotje]

“Forel, A., 1898.”, for the first use of the term “social parasitism.”.

   Forel (p. 383.) used it in a more stricter way than is now the case (more like we now use the term “inquilinism.”.). Now it is general accepted as the case that a social species, that temporary or permanent, uses another social species, by any possible way, to let their offspring grow up.

   After a part about “Esclavagisme.” (“slave-robbing”, e.g. by Polyergus.) follows:

   “Parasitisme social. – La femelle fécondée du Strongylognathus testaceus, petite fourmi de Suisse, sait se faire accepter par une espèce travailleuse, le Tetramorium caespitum, qui la nourrit et soigne sa couvée côte de celle de sa propre femelle. Les Tetramorium n’élèvent alors que les ouvrières de leur propre espèce, tandis qu’ils élèvent les femelles et mâles (plus petits) du Strongylognathus, qui leur fait ainsi grand tort. Mais le Tetramorium soigne ce parasite de son bon plaisir, par instinct dévoyé.”

   “L’Anergates atratulus va plus loin, car sa femelle fait disparaître celle des Tetramorium, qui la prennent en lieu et place de leur propre mère et la soignent ainsi que sa couvée.”

[Teleutotje]

A little history-note about three great scientists (partly from Ameisenportal.eu.).

   “Kutter, Heinrich (1896-1990), was one of those great myrmecologists that I personally contacted. It was about Kutter, H., 1978, “Hymenoptera: Formicidae.” Insecta Helvetica, Fauna 6a: 404 ills. (112 pp.). This book is a supplement to Kutter, H., 1977, “Hymenoptera, Formicidae.” Insecta Helvetica, Fauna 6: 1-298. At that moment I had Fauna 6 and was looking for Fauna 6a. At last, without a copy found, I wrote Kutter. Sadly, his answer came and he told me there weren’t any exemplars left of the little book (Lucky for me, I found an exemplar by a second hand bookstore and still have it in my collection.). This was in the last years of his life.”

   “Kutter was one of the great myrmecologists that came from Switzerland. He was a student from A.-H. Forel and, just like Forel, a Swiss neuroanatomist and psychiatrist, Kutter was a Swiss pharmacist with his own Ant Pharmacy (“Ameisenapotheke.“.). His research about ants was a “great hobby” for him that made him one of the great myrmecologists. Like you can see in his Fauna 6, it was a very big and incredible job to do.”

   “But there was still one more thing great about him, he discovered that little ant Teleutomyrmex schneideri, the Final Ant, Kutter, H., 1950, “Über eine neue, extrem parasitische Ameise. 1. Mitteilung.” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 23: 81-94. The description of this species took 14 pages, but the original series took 100 pages, in total 4 articles, his article, Stumper, R., 1951, “Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter (Hym. Formicid.). II. Mitteilung. Über die Lebensweise der neuen Schmarotzerameise.” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 24: 129-152, Brun, R., 1952, “Das Zentralnervensystem von Teleutomyrmex Schneideri Kutt. (Hym. Formicid.). III. Mitteilung.” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 25: 73-86 and Gösswald, K., 1953, “Histologische Untersuchungen an der arbeiterlosen Ameise Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter (Hym. Formicidae).” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 26: 81-128. All this work was reviewed and more in Kutter, H., 1968 (“1969”), “Die sozialparasitischen Ameisen der Schweiz.” Neujahrsblatt. Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Zürich 171: 1-62.”

   “After 24 years in his life he published a little book about ants and how to keep them, Kutter, H., 1920, “”Gehe hin zur Ameise!” Anleitung zur selbständigen Ameisenforschung.” Naturwissenschaftliche Beobachtungsbücher 1-2: viii + 165 pp. What he thought and what he wished about ants is included in it and it is the almost “starting point” about his ant-work. His publications run from 1913 to 1986 and are very important for Europe.”

  Lastly, he translated, to German, parts of the French edition of one of the masterpieces written in myrmecology, nl. Forel, A., 1921, “Le monde social des fourmis comparé à celui de l’homme. Tome 1. Genèse, formes, anatomie, classification. Géographie, fossiles.” Genève, Librairie Kundig, xiv + 192 pp., Forel, A., 1921, “Le monde social des fourmis comparé à celui de l’homme. Tome 2. Sensations, physiologie, fourmis et plantes, hôtes, parasites, nids.” Genève, Librairie Kundig, iii + 184 pp., Forel, A., 1922, “Le monde social des fourmis comparé à celui de l’homme. Tome 3. Appareils d’observation. Fondation des foumilières. Moeurs à l’intérieur des nids. Bétail, jardins, fourmis parasites. (Avec appendice du Dr. E. Bugnion.).” Genève, Librairie Kundig, vii + 227 pp., Forel, A., 1923, “Le monde social des fourmis comparé à celui de l’homme. Tome 4. Alliances et guerres, parabiose, lestobiose, esclavagisme.” Genève, Librairie Kundig, vii + 172 pp. and Forel, A., 1923, “Le monde social des fourmis comparé à celui de l’homme. Tome 5. Moeurs specialisées. Epilogue, les fourmis. Les termites et l’homme.” Genève, Librairie Kundig, vi + 174 pp. (Translated in English as Forel, A., 1928a, “The social world of the ants compared with that of man. Volume 1. [Translated by C. K. Ogden.].” London, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Ltd., xlv + 551 pp. and Forel, A., 1928b, “The social world of the ants compared with that of man. Volume 2. [Translated by C. K. Ogden.].” London, G. P. Putman’s Sons, Ltd., xx + 444 pp.), as Forel, A., 1948, “Die Welt der Ameisen. Ausgewählt und übersetzt von Heinrich Kutter. Mit einem Vorwort von Oscar Forel. 61 Abbildungen. ” Zürich, Rotapfel-Verlag, 275 pp.

   Together with Forel, A., 1874, “Les fourmis de la Suisse. Systématique, notices anatomiques et physiologiques, architecture, distribution géographique, nouvelles expériences et observations de moeurs.” Neue Denkschriften der Allgemeinen Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften, vol. 26, p. 1-452 (+ 2 plates!), Forel, A., 1915, “Fauna insectorum helvetiae. Hymenoptera. Formicidae. Die Ameisen der Schweiz.” Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft, vol. 12 (Beilage), p. 1-77 and Forel, A,. 1920, “Les fourmis de la Suisse. Notices anatomiques et physiologiques, architecture, distribution géographique, nouvelles expériences et observations de moeurs. Seconde édition revue et corrigée.” La Chaux-de-Fonds, Imprimerie Coopérative, xvi + 333 pp., these were the most important publications of A. Forel!

   Schenck, P. A., was best known for a few works about insects from Nassau, and more generally from Germany. For us, his most important contribution was Schenck, P. A., 1852, “Beschreibung nassauischer Ameisenarten.” Jahrbuch des Vereins für Naturkunde im Herzogthum Nassau, Wiesbaden, vol. 8, p. 1-149.

Auguste-Henri Forel (* 01. September 1848 in La Gracieuse, Morges, † 27. Juli 1931 in
La Fourmiliere, Yvorne.).
Anergates Forel, 1874.

Heinrich Kutter (* 22. September 1896 in Vinelz, † 23. Juli 1990 in Egg.).
Teleutomyrmex Kutter, 1950.
Teleutomyrmex schneideri Kutter, 1950.

Both were born and died in Switzerland.

Philipp Adolph Schenck (* 11. April 1803 in Dillenburg, † 23. Februar 1878 in Weilburg.).
Myrmica atratula Schenck, 1852 (see also 1853.).
He was born and died in Germany.

[Teleutotje]

Changed the last part about Schenck to:

Schenck, P. A., was best known for a few works about insects from Nassau, and more generally from Germany. For us, his most important contributions were Schenck, P. A., 1852, “Beschreibung nassauischer Ameisenarten.” Jahrbuch des Vereins für Naturkunde im Herzogthum Nassau, Wiesbaden, vol. 8, p. 1-149, Schenck, P. A., 1856, “Systematische Eintheilung der nassauischen Ameisen nach Mayr.” Jahrbuch des Vereins für Naturkunde im Herzogthum Nassau, Wiesbaden, vol. 11, p. 90-94 and Schenck, P. A., 1861, “Zusätze und Berichtigungen zu der Beschreibung der nassauischen Grabwespen (Heft XII), Goldwespen (Heft XI), Bienen (Heft XIV) und Ameisen (Heft VIII und XI).“ Jahrbuch des Vereins für Naturkunde im Herzogthum Nassau, Wiesbaden, vol. 16, p. 137-206.

[Teleutotje]

The manuscript.

   The next page includes a reprint of a manuscript that was rejected by the journals “Systematic Entomology.”, “Insectes Sociaux.” (and related journals of Springer Link.), “Revue Suisse de Zoologie.” and “Myrmecological News.” and from co-authorship by Prof. Em. A. Buschinger and Prof. Em. B. Seifert. So, for completeness, it is included in full here. It was written in the beginning of December 2022. Teleutomyrmex kutteri Tinaut, 1990 is now named Tetramorium flinex Fisher, 2025.

    There are two changes in the manuscript:
-         “Nom. nov.” (nomen novum.) is changed in “nom. obl.” (nomen oblitum; 3 X.).
-         The “replacement name” is changed in ““forgotten name”” (2 X.).

[Teleutotje]

A new name for Teleutomyrmex kutteri Tinaut, 1990.

Van der Stappen, Marc.
“Teleutotje.”
Unemployed, but a Master!

   When in 2015 (“2014”) Teleutomyrmex kutteri Tinaut, 1990 was placed in the genus Tetramorium Mayr, 1855, there was a problem, nl. that the name was already occupied by a subspecies, Tetramorium semilaeve André, 1883 var. kutteri Santschi, 1927 (now a synonym of Tetramorium indocile Santschi, 1927, original described as Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus, 1758) var. indocile Santschi, 1927, synonymy by Wagner, Arthofer, Seifert, Muster, Steiner, Schlick-Steiner, 2017.). In this period between 2015 (“2014”) and now, nobody wanted to give Tetramorium kutteri (Tinaut, 1990) a new name  because 1) the original replacers, Ward, Brady, Fisher, Schultz, 2015 ("2014"), didn’t see the original 1927 name, and 2) the others, like Kiran, Karaman, Lapeva-Gjonova, Aksoy, 2017, didn’t think it worth a replacement name because they thought it wouldn’t last long. But now it is already 8 years a name that needs to be replaced. So I suggest the following replacement:

   Tetramorium kutteri (Tinaut, 1990) is a secondary junior homonym of Tetramorium semilaeve André, 1883 var. kutteri Santschi, 1927. The "forgotten name” is Tetramorium neokutteri (nom. obl.).

   This arrangement (How long will it last?) becomes:

Tetramorium neokutteri (nom. obl.)
(= Teleutomyrmex kutteri Tinaut, 1990)
(= Tetramorium kutteri (Tinaut, 1990), by Ward, Brady, Fisher, Schultz, 2015 ("2014"))
(not Tetramorium semilaeve André, 1883 var. kutteri Santschi, 1927)
(= Tetramorium neokutteri (nom. obl.), “forgotten name“)

- International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (I.C.Z.N.) [Ride, W. D. L., Cogger, H. G., Dupuis, C., Kraus, O., Minelli, A., Thompson, F. C., Tubbs, P. K. (editors.)], 1999, “International Code of Zoological Nomenclature [= Code International de Nomenclature Zoologique]. Fourth Edition, adopted by the International Union of Biological Sciences.” London, The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, 1999. Padova, Tipografia La Garangola, xxix + 306 p
- Kiran, K., Karaman, C., Lapeva-Gjonova, A., Aksoy, V., 2017, “Two new species of the “ultimate“ parasitic ant genus Teleutomyrmex Kutter, 1950 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Western Palaearctic.“ Myrmecological News, vol. 25, p. 145-155.
- Santschi, F., 1927, “A propos du Tetramorium caespitum L.” Folia Myrmecologica et Termitologica, vol. 1, no. 4/5, p. 53-58.
- Tinaut, A., 1990, “Teleutomyrmex kutteri, spec. nov. A new species from Sierra Nevada (Granada, Spain).” Spixiana, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 201-208.
- Wagner, H. C., Arthofer, W., Seifert, B., Muster, C., Steiner, F. M., Schlick-Steiner, B. C., 2017, “Light at the end of the tunnel: Integrative taxonomy delimits cryptic species in the Tetramorium caespitum complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).” Myrmecological News, vol. 25, p. 95–129 (+ 6 supporting files.).
- Ward, P. S., Brady, S. G., Fisher, B. L., Schultz, T. R., 2015 (“2014”), “The evolution of myrmicine ants: Phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).” Systematic Entomology, vol. 40, no. 1, p. 61-81 (+ 9 supporting files.). (Article first published online: 23 July 2014).

[Teleutotje]

“Appendix II. Classification of social parasitism syndromes.”.

   “Wheeler (1901.) and Buschinger (1986, 2009.) reviewed ant social parasitism syndromes, making distinctions based on the host-parasite relationship including exploitation strategy and intensity of colony integration. As more species were studied and life history traits revealed, categories became blurred. In this review, we follow Buschinger’s recent delineations of “social” parasitism syndromes aligned with influential works (e.g., de la Mora et al., 2020.).”.

   After Lestobiosis (Thief ant parasites.), Xenobiosis (Guest ant parasites.), Temporary social parasitism and Dulosis (Kleptergy.), they come to the last social parasitism syndrome:

   “Inquilinism: Inquilinism has evolved 40 times across the ants (Cini et al., 2019, Rabeling, 2021.). Syndrome-defining traits include parasite queen tolerance, reduced size, and morphological debilitation. Most species do not produce workers, relying entirely on the host to rear reproductive brood. This is possible because the parasite infiltrates colonies of congeners with similar recognition systems and behavioral repertoires (Bourke and Franks, 1995.). In Acromyrmex, genome reduction has been reported, as has small effective population size and sib-mating (Schrader et al., 2021.).”.

The references.

   This supporting file (“Appendix ll. Classification of social parasitism syndromes.”.) belongs to the article ixaf025, or Oberski, J. T. et al., 2025:

Oberski, J. T., Griebenow, Z. H., Adams, R. M. M., Andersen, A., Andrade-Silva, J., Barden, P., Borowiec, M., Brady, S., Casadei-Ferreira, A., Csősz, S., Dias, A. M., Dias, R. K. S., Feitosa, R. M., Fernandez, F., Fisher, B. L., General, D. E. M., Gomez, K., Hammel, J. U., Hawkes, P. G., Janda, M., Khalife, A., Ladino, N., Lieberman, Z. E., Lucky, A., Menchetti, M., do Prado, L. P., Prebus, M. M.,  Probst, R. S., Punnath, A., Richter, A., Salata, S., Sánchez-Restrepo, A. F., Schifani, E., Schultz, T. R., Silva, R. R., Sosa-Calvo, J., Tocora, M. C., Ulysséa, M. A.,  van de Kamp, T., Wang, W. Y., Williams, J. L.,  Camacho, G. P., Boudinot, B. B., 2025, “Ant systematics: past, present, and future.” Insect Systematics and Diversity, vol. 9, no. 4, art. Ixaf025, pp. 1-42 (+ 5 supporting files.).

   The Appendix ll includes also the following references:

Bourke, A. F. G., Franks, N. R., 1995, “Social Evolution in Ants.” In: Krebs, J. R., Clutton-Brock, T. H. (editors.), 1995, “Monographs in Behavior and Ecology, vol. 62.” Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, xiii + 529 pp.

Buschinger, A., 1986, “Evolution of social parasitism in ants.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 1, no. 6, p. 155-160.

Buschinger, A., 2009, “Social parasitism among ants: a review (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).” Myrmecological News, vol. 12, p. 219-235 (+ 1 supporting file.).

Cini, A., Sumner, S., Cervo, R., 2019, “Inquiline social parasites as tools to unlock the secrets of insect sociality.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London, Series B, Biological sciences, vol. 374, no. 1769, art. 2018.0193, p. 1-11 (+ 1 supporting file.).

de la Mora, A., Sankovitz, M., Purcell, J., 2020, “Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as host and intruder: recent advances and future directions in the study of exploitative strategies.” Myrmecological News, vol. 30, p. 53-71 (+ 1 supporting file.).

Rabeling, C., 2020, “Social Parasitism.” P. 836-858 in: Starr, C. K. (editor.), 2021, “Encyclopedia of Social Insects.” Springer International Publishing, Cham., xxvi + 1049 pp.

Schrader, L., Pan, H., Bollazzi, M., Schiøtt, M., Larabee, F. J., Bi, X., Deng, Y., Zhang, G., Boomsma, J. J., Rabeling, C., 2021, “Relaxed selection underlies genome erosion in socially parasitic ant species.” Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, art. 2918, p. 1-13 (+ 3 supporting files.).

Wheeler, W. M., 1901, “The compound and mixed nests of American ants. Part II. The known cases of social symbiosis amons American ants.” American Naturalist, vol. 35, p. 513-539.

[Teleutotje]

More characters of the host species.

   It seems that the host species of inquilines have the following characteristic qualities:

- The hosts belong to the same ant genus (80%/77 species.), the same tribe (12 %.) or the same subfamily (8 %.). This “providing support for possibly the most strict interpretation of  Emery’s rule  (Le Masne, 1956.).”.
- The host colony has only a single queen (94 %/77 species.) or multiple queens (6 %.).
- The host colony has a medium number of workers (100-50000; 80 %/77 species.), a small number (16 %.) or a great number (4 %.).

   My small remark: Teleutomyrmex and Anergates are two small genera, developed from, or in, their host genus, Tetramorium. They live in relative medium colonies of their host species with one (Teleutomyrmex.) or no host queens (Anergates.]. Their host species are limited (Teleutomyrmex.) or many species within the host species-group (Anergates.). Teleutomyrmex colonies live long in small host colonies with new host workers and sexuals, Anergates colonies die out within two to three years, in disappearing host colonies without new host workers or sexuals.

   The original article:

Huang, M. H., Dornhaus, A., 2008, “A meta‐analysis of ant social parasitism: host characteristics of differnt parasitism types and a test of Emery’s rule.” Ecological Entomology, vol. 33, no. 5, p. 589-596.

   The included reference:

Le Masne, G., 1956, “Recherches sur les fourmis parasites: Plagiolepis grassei et l’évolution des Plagiolepis parasites.” Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, vol. 243, p. 673-675.