Lasius
Encyclopedia
Lasius Latr.
is a genus
of boreal
formicine
ant
s.
Included within this genus is the common black garden ant, Lasius niger, and its close relatives from dry heathland, L. alienus and L. neoniger.
Other species include the temporary social parasites of the L. mixtus group and the hyper-social parasite Lasius fuliginosus.
Lasius flavus is also a commonly seen species, building grassy hillocks in undisturbed pasture. In the Alps, these mounds - always aligned east to catch the first rays of the rising sun - have been traditionally used by goatherds as natural compass
es.
The genus
was renamed by Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe, the eccentric British
myrmecologist and coleopterist, after himself Donisthorpea.
Synonyms: Donisthorpea Donisthorpe
Pierre André Latreille
Pierre André Latreille was a French zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained his freedom after recognising a rare species he found in the prison, Necrobia ruficollis...
is a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of boreal
Boreal ecosystem
The term boreal is usually applied to ecosystems localized in subarctic and subantarctic zones, although Austral is also used for the latter....
formicine
Formicinae
Formicinae is a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary development.Formicines retain some primitive features such as the presence of cocoons around pupae, the presence of ocelli in workers, and little tendency toward reduction of palp or antennal segmentation in...
ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s.
Included within this genus is the common black garden ant, Lasius niger, and its close relatives from dry heathland, L. alienus and L. neoniger.
Other species include the temporary social parasites of the L. mixtus group and the hyper-social parasite Lasius fuliginosus.
Lasius flavus is also a commonly seen species, building grassy hillocks in undisturbed pasture. In the Alps, these mounds - always aligned east to catch the first rays of the rising sun - have been traditionally used by goatherds as natural compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
es.
The genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
was renamed by Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe, the eccentric British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
myrmecologist and coleopterist, after himself Donisthorpea.
Synonyms: Donisthorpea Donisthorpe
Horace Donisthorpe
Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe was an eccentric British myrmecologist and coleopterist, memorable in part for his enthusiastic championing of the renaming of the genus Lasius after him as Donisthorpea, and for his many claims of discovering new species of beetles and ants.He is often considered...
Species
- Lasius alienoflavus Bingham, 1903
- L. alienus (Foerster, 1850)
- L. atopus Cole, 1958
- L. balcanicus Seifert, 1988
- L. bicornis (Foerster, 1850)
- L. breviscapus Seifert, 1992
- L. brunneus (Latreille, 1798)
- L. brunneus brunneus (Latreille, 1798)
- L. brunneus emarginatobrunneus Ruzsky, 1902
- L. buccatus Staercke, 1942
- L. capitatus (Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927)
- L. carniolicus Mayr, 1861
- L. chambonensis Theobald, 1935
- L. cinereus Seifert, 1992
- L. citrinus Emery, 1922
- L. coloratus Santschi, 1937
- L. crinitus (Smith, 1858)
- L. crispus Theobald, 1935
- L. crypticus Wilson, 1955
- L. distinguendus (Emery, 1916)
- L. draco Collingwood, 1982
- L. emarginatus (Olivier, 1792)
- L. epicentrus Theobald, 1937
- L. escamole Reza, 1925
- L. exulans Fabricius, 1804
- L. fallax Wilson, 1955
- L. flavescens Forel, 1904
- L. flavoniger Seifert, 1992
- L. flavus (Fabricius, 1782)
- L. fuliginosus (Latreille, 1798)
- L. gebaueri Seifert, 1992
- L. globularis (Heer, 1850)
- L. grandis Forel, 1909
- L. hayashi Yamauchi & Hayashida, 1970
- L. hikosanus Yamauchi, 1979
- L. himalayanus Bingham, 1903
- L. hirsutus Seifert, 1992
- L. humilis Wheeler, 1917
- L. japonicus Santschi, 1941
- L. jensi Seifert, 1982
- L. jensi jensi Seifert, 1982
- L. jensi longiceps Seifert, 1988
- L. karpinisi Seifert, 1992
- L. koreanus Seifert, 1992
- L. lasioides (Emery, 1869)
- L. lawarai Seifert, 1992
- L. longaevus (Heer, 1850)
- L. longipennis (Heer, 1850)
- L. magnus Seifert, 1992
- L. meridionalis (Bondroit, 1920)
- L. mikir Collingwood, 1982
- L. minutulus (Heer, 1850)
- L. minutus Emery, 1893
- L. mixtus (Nylander, 1846)
- L. monticola (Buckley, 1866)
- L. morisitai Yamauchi, 1979
- L. myops Forel, 1894
- L. nearcticus Wheeler, 1906
- L. neglectusLasius neglectusLasius neglectus is a polygynous, sometimes invasive, ant of the genus Lasius. The ant was identified in 1990 after establishing a colony in Budapest, Hungary...
Van Loon, Boomsma en Andrasfalvy, 1990 - L. nemorivagus Wheeler, 1915
- L. neoniger Emery, 1893
- L. nevadensis Cole, 1956
- L. niger (Linnaeus, 1758)
- L. niger niger (Linnaeus, 1758)
- L. niger pinetorum Ruzsky, 1907
- L. nigrescens Stitz, 1930
- L. obliteratus (Heer, 1850)
- L. oblongus Assmann, 1870
- L. obscuratus Stitz, 1930
- L. obscurus (Heer, 1850)
- L. occultatus (Heer, 1850)
- L. occultatus occultatus (Heer, 1850)
- L. occultatus parschlugianus (Heer, 1850)
- L. pallitarsis (Provancher, 1881)
- L. paralienus Seifert, 1992
- L. peritulus (Cockerell, 1927)
- L. piliferus Seifert, 1992
- L. platythorax Seifert, 1991
- L. productus Wilson, 1955
- L. przewalskii Ruzsky, 1915
- L. psammophilus Seifert, 1992
- L. pumilus Mayr, 1868
- L. rabaudi (Bondroit, 1917)
- L. redtenbacheri (Heer, 1850)
- L. redtenbacheri neuter (Heer, 1850)
- L. redtenbacheri redtenbacheri (Heer, 1850)
- L. reginaeLasius reginaeLasius reginae is a species of ant in the Formicidae family. It is endemic to Austria.-Source:* Social Insects Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 31 July 2007....
Faber, 1967 - L. rubiginosus (Latreille, 1802)
- L. sabularum (Bondroit, 1918)
- L. sakagamii Yamauchi & Hayashida, 1970
- L. schaeferi Seifert, 1992
- L. schiefferdeckeri Mayr, 1868
- L. schulzi Seifert, 1992
- L. sitiens Wilson, 1955
- L. sonobei Yamauchi, 1979
- L. spathepus Wheeler, 1910
- L. speculiventrisLasius speculiventrisLasius speculiventris is a species of ant that is commonly found in the northern United States and lives in forests, woodlands, and meadows....
Emery, 1893 - L. subumbratus Viereck, 1903
- L. talpa Wilson, 1955
- L. tebessae Seifert, 1992
- L. teranishii Wheeler, 1928
- L. terreus Scudder, 1878
- L. tertiarius Zalessky, 1949
- L. turcicus Santschi, 1921
- L. umbratusLasius umbratusLasius umbratus is a parasitic ant. Queens find a Lasius niger worker ant, kill it to gain its scent and then are able to enter its nest. Once inside it finds and kills the queen. The worker ants will care for her larvae and slowly the colony will become one of Lasius umbratus...
(Nylander, 1846) - L. uzbeki Seifert, 1992
- L. vestitus Wheeler, 1910
- L. vetulus Dlussky, 1981
- L. viehmeyeri Emery, 1922
- L. wittmeri Seifert, 1992
- L. xerophilus MacKay & MacKay, 1994
External links
- Online Catalog of Ants of North America: Genus Lasius (with distribution, sketches and pictures)
- Fabricius, J. C. 1804. Systema Piezatorum. Carolum Reichard, Brunsviga (Original description, in Latin; PDF 2.5M)
- Citronella Ants