Yet another alien: a second species of Lepisiota spreading across the Canary Islands, Spain (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Authors

  • Enrico Schifani Section Animal Biology, Department STEBICEF, University of Palermo
  • Vincenzo Gentile Torre Annunziata (NA)
  • Antonio Scupola Museo civico di Storia Naturale di Verona
  • Xavier Espadaler CREAF, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13133/2284-4880/287

Keywords:

Macaronesia, Lepisiota frauenfeldi ssp. kantarensis, first record, myrmecofauna, exotic ants, invasive ants, tramp ants, biodiversity conservation

Abstract

The Canary Islands are a biologically important archipelago hosting many unique species, whose myrmecofauna is peculiarly rich in both endemic and introduced species. Lepisiota frauenfeldi cfr. kantarensis Forel, 1911 is reported for the first time from Fuerteventura and Tenerife. It is the second species of Lepisiota introduced in the archipelago in the last few years, and one of the few documented cases in which Lepisiota frauenfeldi (Mayr, 1855) s.l. acts as a successful tramp species. Comments are also given on taxonomic problems involving the L. frauenfeldi-group and related taxa. Finally, new additional information and comments are presented on the distribution of other alien ants species from the Canary Islands [Lasius neglectus Van Loon, Boomsma & Andrásfalvy, 1990, Lepisiota capensis (Mayr, 1862) and Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802)].

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Published

2018-06-28

How to Cite

Schifani, E., Gentile, V., Scupola, A. and Espadaler, X. (2018) “Yet another alien: a second species of Lepisiota spreading across the Canary Islands, Spain (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)”, Fragmenta entomologica, 50(1), pp. 61–64. doi: 10.13133/2284-4880/287.

Issue

Section

Short Scientific Notes