''Tetramorium inquilinum'' is an

ectoparasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

found in Europe. It was discovered by Swiss myrmecologist Heinrich Kutter. The species is unusual for lacking a worker caste, the queens and males living entirely off the care of the pavement ant. It has been called "the 'ultimate' parasitic ant" by myrmecologists Edward O. Wilson and

Bert Hölldobler Berthold Karl Hölldobler (born 25 June 1936) is a German sociobiologist and evolutionary biologist who studies evolution and social organization in ants. He is the author of several books, including ''The Ants'', for which he and his co-author, ...

Taxonomy

Kutter described the species in 1950, naming it ''Teleutomyrmex schneideri'' and designating it the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

of its newly- circumscribed genus. He named it after his teacher and friend Otto Schneider-Orelli. Kutter discovered the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

himself; the species's type locality is Saas-Fee,

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

, Switzerland. The genus name, "Teleutomyrmex", meant "last" or "final" ant. In a 2015 revision of the subfamily

Myrmicinae Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and ...

, Philip S. Ward, Seán G. Brady, Brian L. Fisher, and Ted R. Schultz classified the genus ''Teleutomyrmex'' as a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...

of ''Tetramorium''. They created a ''

nomen novum In biological nomenclature, a ''nomen novum'' (Latin for "new name"), new replacement name (or replacement name, new substitute name, substitute name) is a scientific name that is created specifically to replace another scientific name, but only w ...

'' for this species, ''T. inquilinum'', due to the presence of a senior homonym: ''

Tetramorium schneideri ''Tetramorium'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae that includes more than 520 species. These ants are also known as pavement ants. Taxonomy and phylogeny ''Tetramorium'' was first described by Gustav Mayr in 1855 in the same publ ...

'' ;

Carlo Emery Carlo Emery (25 October 1848, Naples – 11 May 1925) was an Italian entomologist. He is remembered for Emery's rule, which states that insect social parasites are often closely related to their hosts. Early in his career Carlo Emery pursue ...

had named this species after a different individual, Oskar Schneider, who had collected the holotype. Ward and colleagues' replacement

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

refers to the species's

inquiline In zoology, an inquiline (from Latin ''inquilinus'', "lodger" or "tenant") is an animal that lives commensally in the nest, burrow, or dwelling place of an animal of another species. For example, some organisms such as insects may live in the h ...

behavior ( la, inquilīnus, lit=inhabitant, tenant). This synonymy is contested in one paper, on the basis of the monophyly of the ''Teleutomyrmex'' complex and its very specific biology.

Distribution

This species has been found in the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...

, the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

, the French Pyrenees, Spain, and Turkmenistan.

Morphology

The body shape of ''Tetramorium inquilinum'' is specifically adapted. The queens average 2.5 mm in length, and have a concave form and large pads and claws. ''Tetramorium inquilinum'' is frail and unable to care for itself : Its mandibles are too small and weak to handle anything but liquid food, its sting and poison glands are small, and glands that produce food for larvae and protection against bacteria are completely absent. Its exoskeleton is thin and its brain and central nerve cord are small and simplified.

Behavior

''Tetramorium inquilinum'' constantly sends chemical signals that trick host ants into accepting them as full members of the colony. Being ectoparasitic, ''Tetramorium inquilinum'' spends most of its adult life clinging to the backs of its hosts, especially queens. As many as eight have been observed piggy-backing onto a single host queen, leaving her immobile.

Diet

''Tetramorium inquilinum'' lives entirely on food regurgitated by its hosts, even the liquid meant for the host queen.

Reproduction

Nourished and nurtured well by its hosts, ''Tetramorium inquilinum'' has high fecundity. Older individuals lay an average of two eggs every minute.

References

External links

* inquilinum Hymenoptera of Europe Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Parasitic Hymenoptera Insects described in 2015 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN