5,032 research outputs found
Formica paralugubris SEIFERT 1996
No full textFormica paralugubris SEIFERT, 1996 Formica paralugubris SEIFERT, 1996 [type investigation] This taxon was described from the Swiss Jura Mountains (46.537° N, 6.192° E, 1450 m). The holotype gyne is labelled “SWI: Jura: 1994.06, Le Brassus-5SSW, Chalet a Roch Field Stat., nest G5” and depicted in AntWeb (ANTWEB 2021) under the unique specimen identifier FOCOL0762. Investigated was all type material, consisting of five gynes and 34 workers from the nests G1-G5 of the holotype supercolony, collected in the years 1993 and 1994. Depository SMN Görlitz. All material examined. Numeric phenotypical data were recorded in 73 nest samples with 355 workers and in 53 gynes. These originated from Austria (six samples), Canada (two), France (two), Germany (four), Italy (three), and Switzerland (58). Geographical range. Its natural range is rather small and extends over the montane-subalpine zone of the Jura Mountains and western Alps between 6° E and 11.5° E with a small exclave in the southern Schwarzwald / Germany. In the Alps, it ascends to 2300 m. A colony artificially introduced to Quebec / Canada in 1971 showed continuous growth to supercolonial size over 34 years (SEIFERT 2016a). Artificial introductions of wood ants to at least 42 localities over entire Italy south to Sicily and west to Sardinia were performed in the years 1959 - 1967 (e.g., PAVAN 1959). In that time, the transferred ants were classified as Formica lugubris. However, it is very likely that the vast majority of these introductions really involved Formica paralugubris as it was confirmed for five sites in the North Apennine (MASONI & al. 2019). Diagnosis of worker (Tab. 4, key). Minimum size, mean and maximum CS 1680 and 2020µ m.Head rather short, CL / CW 1750 1.091. Scape rather short and thickset, SL / CS 1750 0.902, SL / Smax 1750 9.22. Eyes always with long microsetae, EyeHL 1750 34µm. Setae number on dorsal plane of scape variable but on average higher than in Alpine Formica lugubris, nSc 1750 5.2. Posterior margin and underside of head always with conspicuous setae, nCH 1750 24.9, OccHL 1750 108 µm, nGu 1750 14.2, GuHL 1750 164µm. Mean length of pronotal setae, number and length of metapleural setae on average lower than in morph A1 of Alpine F. lugubris, mPnHL 1750 78 µm, nMet 1750 7.7, MetHL 1750 154 µm. Workers of morph A3 of Alpine F. lugubris are similar in the pilosity condition but have a much larger size, a larger head length index, and a shorter scape. Diagnosis of gyne (Tab. 7). On average smaller than morph A1 and A3 of Alpine Formica lugubris, mean and maximum CS 2095 and 2238 µm. Scape longer than in morph A3 of Alpine F. lugubris and very thickset, SL / CS 0.805, SL / Smax 7.97. Eyes always with conspicuous microsetae, EyeHL 41 µm. Setae number on dorsal plane of scape variable but on average higher than in morph A1 and A3 of Alpine F. lugubris, nSc 6.4. Posterior margin and underside of head always with conspicuous setae, the length of which is lower than in morph A1 but larger than in morph A3 of Alpine F. lugubris, nCH 23.8, OccHL 117 µm, nGu 16.7, GuHL 128 µm. Pronotal setae shorter than in morph A1 of Alpine F. lugubris, mPnHL 88 µm. Petiole setae fewer and metapleural setae shorter than in morph A1 of Alpine F. lugubris but more numerous and longer than in morph A3 of Alpine F. lugubris, nPe 9.2, MetHL 110 µm. Dorsal surface of gaster appears at lower magnification more or less shiny. Dorsum of first gaster tergite usually with weak transverse microripples and with foveolae and pubescence on average more densely packed than in Formica rufa or Formica polyctena, FodG 21.1 µm, sqPDG 4.62 µm. Taxonomic comments and clustering results. Considering the extreme polymorphism in Alpine Formica lugubris and the presence of another similar sympatric species Formica helvetica sp.n., the separation of Formica paralugubris in both workers and gynes should be problematic. I combined 98 nest samples with 409 workers of Alpine F. lugubris morphs A1 and A3 and of F. helvetica sp.n. in class 1, and 70 nest samples with 323 workers of F. paralugubris in class 2. A two-class LDA considering the characters CS, CL / CW 1750, SL / CS 1750, SL / Smax 1750, PeW / CS 1750, nSc 1750, nCH 1750, OccHL 1750, mPnHL 1750, nMet 1750, and MetHL 1750 classified all samples of F. paralugubris and 96 samples of the collective cluster correctly. This means a classification error of 1.2% within a total of 168 nest samples. A plot of the first and second factors of a PCA supported the existence of two main clusters class 1 and class 2, and disagreed in 3.0% of the samples with the LDA (Fig.32). The exploratory data analyses NC-part.kmeans, NC-Ward, and NC-NMDS.kmeans suggested two clusters and disagreed with the final species hy- pothesis by 3.6, 4.1, and 3.0%. The clustering by NC-part. hclust was ignored as it splitted into seven clusters and exposed 8.9% indeterminate samples (outliers). As result, we have a sufficiently good separation of F. paralugubris workers by morphology. The distinction of F.paralugubris gynes from those of Alpine F.lugubris morphs A1 and A3, and of F. helvetica sp.n. by a principal component analysis appears also rather clear when the eight characters CS, SL / CS, SL / Smax, PeW / CS, ML / CS, nSc, nCH, and OccHL are considered (Fig.33). Section “Hybrids Formica aquilonia × paralugubris ” (p.175) discusses the situation in hybrids F. aquilonia × paralugubris. Biology. See the species profile given by SEIFERT (2018).Published as part of Seifert, Bernhard, 2021, A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the Formica rufa group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) - the famous mound-building red wood ants, pp. 133-179 in Myrmecological News 31 on pages 167-168, DOI: 10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:133, http://zenodo.org/record/558221
Rational Seifert Surfaces in Seifert Filtered Spaces
No full textRationally null-homologous links in Seifert fibered spaces may be represented combinatorially via labeled diagrams. We introduce an additional condition on a labeled link diagram and prove that it is equivalent to the existence of a rational Seifert surface for the link. In the case when this condition is satisfied, we generalize Seifert\u27s algorithm to explicitly construct a rational Seifert surface for any rationally null-homologous link. As an application of the techniques developed in the paper, we derive closed formulae for the rational Thurston-Bennequin and rotation numbers of a rationally null-homologous Legendrian knot in a contact Seifert fibered space. --author-supplied descriptio
Small PSL(2,F) representations of Seifert fiber space groups
No full textLet M be a Seifert fiber space with non-abelian fundamental group and admitting a triangulation with t tetrahedra. We show that there is a non-abelian PSL(2,F) quotient where |F|0 and use this to show that the lens space recognition problem lies in coNP for Seifert fiber space input. We end with a discussion of our results in the context of distinguishing lens spaces from other 3--manifolds more generally.Mathematic
The Rubens morph of Formica exsecta Nylander, 1846 and its separation from Formica fennica Seifert, 2000 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
No full textA study of numeric morphology-based alpha-taxonomy (NUMOBAT) considering the species Formica exsecta Nylander, 1846 and F. fennica Seifert, 2000 was performed in 166 nest samples with 485 worker individuals originating from 117 localities of the Palaearctic west of 59°E. The presence of intraspecific pilosity dimorphism is shown for F. exsecta. The setae-reduced phenotype, termed the Rubens morph, shows a frequency of about 25%, and the more abundant setae-rich phenotype, termed the Normal morph, one of 75%. The frequency of nests containing workers of both phenotypes is 15.5% in 58 samples from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Applying the DIMORPH test of Seifert (2016) on this territory, it is demonstrated that the association of Rubens and Normal phenotypes within the same nest cannot be interpreted as parabiosis of independent species (p=0.017) or as temporary (p=0.0004) and permanent (p=0.0001) socially parasitic association, whereas genetically mediated intraspecific dimorphism is most likely (p=0.659, all p data according to Fisher’s exact test). The Rubens morph of F. exsecta is phenotypically most similar to F. fennica but is safely separable by four different forms of exploratory data analyses using nest centroids (NC) as input data: NC-Ward, NC-part.hclust, NC-part.kmeans, and NC-NMDS-k-means. Data on zoogeography and the narrow climate niche indicate that F. fennica is unlikely to occur in Norway
Formica anatolica Seifert & Schultz 2009, sp. n.
No full textFormica anatolica sp. n. Derivatio nominis: from the distribution in Anatolia. Type material examined: Holotype worker plus 4 worker paratypes labelled "TUR: 37.348° N, 34.360° E Hal-kapinar-32 rkm SE, Aydos Dagi 1600-1800 m, A. Schulz 1997.05.08-214" and " Holotype Formica anatolica Seifert & Schultz " / " Paratype Formica anatolica Seifert & Schultz "; SMN Görlitz. Material examined: 13 samples with 54 workers from Anatolia (Turkey) were subject to a numeric analysis of 18 characters (Fig. 18). For details, see Appendix, as digital supplementary material to this article, at the journal's web pages. Description of worker (Tab. 2, Fig. 8): large Servifor-mica species (CS 1.401 mm), head and scape significantly shorter than in F. rufibarbis (CL / CW1.4 1.110, SL / CS1.4 1.031) and eye distinctly larger (EYE / CS1.4 0.303). Petiole very wide (PEW / CS1.4 0.484). Clypeus with sharp median keel and fine longitudinal microcarinulae. Frontal triangle finely transversely rippled and with 55 - 80 short pubescence hairs. Eyes with microsetae of 8 - 10 μ m maximum length. Total mean of unilateral setae numbers on different body parts predicted for a specimen with CS = 1.4 mm: pronotum 8.9, mesonotum 4.2, propodeum plus dorsolateral metapleuron 0.1, petiole dorsal of spiracle 0.8, flexor profile of hind tibia 1.4, underside of head 1.6 (only species of the F. rufibarbis group usually having gular setae). Posterior margin of head normally without setae. Ventral coxae and gaster tergites with long setae. Dorsal mesonotum in profile broadly convex. Metanotal depression rather deep. Propodeal dome in profile obtuse-angled or rounded, the basal profile sometimes linear or slightly concave. Dorsal crest of petiole in frontal view rounded, sometimes (especially in larger specimens) with a straight or slightly excavated median portion. Petiole scale in lateral aspect thin, with convex anterior and more straight posterior profile. Gaster with transverse microripples of small distance (RipD 4.6 μ m) and covered by dense silvery pubescence (sqPDG 3.4). Pubescence on head, meso-soma and petiole dense. Posterior vertex, often dorsal pro-mesonotum, coxae and all appendages dark brown, gaster always dark brown. Other body parts reddish. In overall impression, this species appears relatively dark with remarkable contrasts between brown and reddish parts, especially on genae. Comments on taxonomy: Well separable from any other Palaearctic species. The very clear distinction from the other two setose species, F. rufibarbis and F. tarimica sp. n., has already been presented above (Fig. 15). The short head, short scape, large eye and pilosity on underside of head suggest certain affinities to the F. cinerea group but the very wide petiole scale and overall pilosity pattern indicate an allocation to the F. rufibarbis group. 13 samples with 54 workers were subject to a numeric analysis of 18 characters. Turkey: Halkapinar (type), 8.V.1997 [37.348° N, 34.36° E]; Bakirdagi, 10.V.1997 [38.217° N, 35.917° E]; Belören (3 samples), 4.VI.1993 [37.211° N, 32.546° E]; Cankurtaran, 10.V.2003 [38.155° N, 31.239° E]; Carmadi (2 samples), 31. V.1993 [37.823° N, 35.102° E]; Imrasan Gecidi (2 samples), 3.V.1997 [37.133° N, 31.800° E]; Seydisehir, 5.VI.1993 [37.350° N, 31.750° E]; Sylemaniye, 5.VI.1993 [37.100° N, 31.750° E]; Ücpinnar, 4.VI.1993 [37.126° N, 32.250°]. Distribution and biology: So far only known from south-central Anatolia in the region of the Taurus Mountains (Toros Daglari). Occurring there at elevations between 1300 and 1900 m. Most remarkable habitat selection: so far only found in woodland stands with Abies, Juniperus, Quercus and other deciduous tree species, occasionally interspersed with grassland patches.Published as part of Seifert, B. & Schultz, R., 2009, A taxonomic revision of the Formica rufibarbis Fabricius, 1793 group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)., pp. 255-272 in Myrmecologische Nachrichten 12 on page 2
Formica helvetica Seifert 2021, sp.n.
No full textFormica helvetica sp.n. Formica lugubris -A2 (BERNASCONI & al. 2011) Formica lugubris, morph A2 (SEIFERT 2018) Etymology. Referring to Helvetia, the Latin name of Switzerland. Type material. Holotype worker plus four paratype workers labelled “SWI: 46.7218° N, 10.2988° E, Scuol, Pinus forest, 1767m, polydomous, Bernasconi 2005.05.13 - MIN7 ”; another nine nest samples from the same supercolony with 47 paratype workers and 30 paratype gynes collected by C. Bernasconi in the years 2005 - 2008, sample numbers MIN8, MIN11, MIN13, MIN15, MIN17, MIN18, MIN20, MIN35, and MIN36; depository SMN Görlitz. All material examined. Numeric phenotypical data were recorded in nine nest samples with 30 workers and 28 gynes. All originated from the supercolony of the type locality. For details, see SI1, SI2, and SI3. Geographic range. Only known from the type locality in Mingèr Valley in the Eastern Swiss Alps at altitudes between 1700 and 2000 m. Diagnosis of worker (Tab. 3, Figs. 16 and 17). Small, as it is expected for a supercolonial social phenot ype, mean and maximum CS 1663 and 1966µm. Scape as short as but on average less thickset than in Alpine Formica lugubris, SL / CS 1750 0.904, SL / Smax 1750 9.47. Petiole width and setae number as in Alpine F. lugu- bris but setae length on average larger, EyeHL 1750 37µm, OccHL 1750 132µm, mPnHL 1750 111µm, MetHL 1750 188 µm. Diagnosis of gyne (Tab. 7). Size slightly smaller than in Alpine Formica lugubris, mean and maximum CS 2126 and 2278 µm. Head short, CL / CW 0.999. Scape on average longer and less thickset than in morph A3 of Alpine F. lugubris, SL / CS 0.797, SL / Smax 8.41. Eyes always with rather long setae, EyeHL 44µm. Dorsal plane of scape usually without or very few setae, nSc 0.4. Posterior margin of head always with setae, these on average longer than in morph A3 of Alpine F. lugubris, nCH 18.5, OccHL 179µm. Setae number comparable with morph A1 and A3 of Alpine F. lugubris but seta length larger than in morph A3, nGu 17.2, GuHL 303µm, PnHL 236µm, MetHL 287µm, nPe 13.7. Dorsal surface of gaster appears at lower magnification more or less shiny. Dorsum of first gaster tergite usually with weak transverse microripples and with foveolae and pubescence being on average more densely packed than in Formica rufa or Formica polyctena, FodG 26.1 µm, sqPDG 4.84 µm. Taxonomic comments and clustering results. Formica helvetica sp.n. is the first ant species I describe as new without having a sufficiently clear mor- phological diagnosis. This decision is certainly a risk, considering the patchwork situation in Alpine Formica lugubris populations. However, this taxonomic act is intended as a constructive, positively provocative hypothesis for future ant students to re-investigate the case with more advanced methods. The recognition as species here is largely based on an apparently clear clustering by nuclear DNA and moderate support by gyne morphology. BERNASCONI & al. (2011) investigated nine microsatellite markers in seven Formica rufa group species in and around the Swiss National Park in East Switzerland. They showed a clear difference between F. helvetica sp.n. and F. lugubris (in Mingèr Valley represented by morph A1) and five other F.rufa group species sympatrically occurring in the area. The genetic distance between F. helvetica sp.n. and F. lugubris (Fst = 0.101) was comparable with those between Formica aquilonia and Formica paralugubris (Fst = 0.117), or between F. lugubris and F. aquilonia (Fst = 0.130) but lower than between monodomous and polydomous populations of F. lugubris in another area of the Swiss National Park (BERNASCONI & al. 2005). The mtDNA of F. helvetica sp.n. clustered with that of F. paralugubris and F. aquilonia, which may suggest a hybridogenous evolutionary history, but also that there was no influx of genes by immigration of F. lugubris gynes. The morphological clustering of workers failed when the whole Alpine population from the French Jura to Eastern Austria was considered. Running an LDA with the characters CS, CL / CW 1750, SL / CS 1750, nSc 1750, nCH 1750, OccHL 1750, mPnHL 1750, and nMet 1750, all nine worker nest samples of Formica helvetica were allocated to the same cluster, but this cluster was shared with nine Formica lugubris samples of the morph A1 from nine different lo- calities. This meant a classification error of 9.3% in a total of 97 worker samples. The misplaced F. lugubris samples came from all over the Alps and included a population from Grande Rolat in Swiss Jura which had been intensively studied biologically, genetically and morphologically over many years. The situation in gynes appears better, but the low sample size of only 28 specimens in Formica helvetica sp.n. required a strong character reduction, performed by a stepwise LDA. Using the eight characters SL / CS, SL / Smax, PeW / CS, ML / CS, nSc, nMes, GuHL, and nHT, the nest sample means of the LDA scores provide a rather good separation of F. helvetica sp.n. (Fig. 31), but the figure also shows that the first component of the PCA (calculated from the same eight characters as the LDA) does not expose F. helvetica but separates instead the Formica lugubris morphs A1 and A3. Habitat and biology. The supercolony stretched along a transect of about 1.6k m length within a Pinus forest on limestone ground. The social structure is comparable with that of Formica aquilonia, with mating intranidally or within the colony borders and high genetic viscosity.Published as part of Seifert, Bernhard, 2021, A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the Formica rufa group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) - the famous mound-building red wood ants, pp. 133-179 in Myrmecological News 31 on pages 166-167, DOI: 10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:133, http://zenodo.org/record/558221
Cardiocondyla provincialis F. Bernard 1956
No full textCardiocondyla provincialis Bernard 1956 [type investigation] The type locality of this taxon is Fréjus / France. Investigated were two worker syntypes labelled “Fréjus (Var) plage IX. 34 F. Bernard”, “ Cardiocondyla provincialis F. Bernard ”, “Type”, “ANTWEB CASENT 0915398”; MNHN Paris.Published as part of Seifert, Bernhard, 2023, A revision of the Palaearctic species of the ant genus Cardiocondyla Emery 1869 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), pp. 1-64 in Zootaxa 5274 (1) on page 28, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5274.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/788815
Formica georgica Seifert 2002
No full text29. F. georgica Seifert, 2002 Distribution: E.G.: Barisakho, Kazbegi, Mtskheta, Omalo, Pasanauri, Shatili, Shenako (Seifert, 2002).Published as part of Gratiashvili, N. & Barjadze, S., 2008, Checklist of the ants (Formicidae Latreille, 1809) of Georgia., pp. 130-146 in Proceedings of the Institute of Zoology 23 on page 13
Formica fennica Seifert 2000
No full text26. F. fennica Seifert, 2000 Distribution: E.G.: Shenako (Seifert, 2000).Published as part of Gratiashvili, N. & Barjadze, S., 2008, Checklist of the ants (Formicidae Latreille, 1809) of Georgia., pp. 130-146 in Proceedings of the Institute of Zoology 23 on page 13
Cardiocondyla longiceps Seifert 2003
No full textCardiocondyla longiceps Seifert, 2003 Cardiocondyla longiceps Seifert, 2003. - Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 104 B: 259. (Yemen: Socotra Island). Specimens examined: Yemen, Socotra Island: 1 ♀ (holotype), 3 ♀ ♀ (paratypes), Hadibo, 14.IV.1993, A. van Harten, SMNG. Remarks: This species has been just recently described (Seifert 2003) from winged gynes originating both from Socotra Island and the Yemen mainland (Ta’izz). The workers are as yet unknown. As a member of the Cardiocondyla shuckardi-group, the new species has the propodeal spines much shorter than in C. emeryi, a character true also for workers in this species group. On the known measurements of gynes and workers in related species, Seifert (2003) predicted morphometric data for C. longiceps workers, on the basis of which we include the species in the key. The species of the C. shuckardi-group inhabit arid parts of Madagascar, Africa, southern Arabia and the Middle East. Cardiocondyla longiceps may be predicted to occur around the Horn of Africa also.Published as part of Collingwood, C. A., Pohl, F., Güsten, R., Wranik, W., van Harten, A., 2004, The ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Socotra Archipelago, pp. 473-495 in Fauna of Arabia 20 on pages 479-480, DOI: 0.5281/zenodo.1256
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