Is Mimicry a Diversification-Driver in Ants? Biogeography, Ecology, Ethology, Genetics and Morphology Define a Second West-Palae
applyparastyle “fig//caption/p[1]” parastyle “FigCapt” Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2021, XX, 1–27. With 13 figures. Is mimicry a diversification-driver in ants? Biogeography, ecology, ethology, genetics and morphology define a second West-Palaearctic Colobopsis species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) ENRICO SCHIFANI1*,†, , DANIELE GIANNETTI1,†, , SÁNDOR CSŐSZ2,†, , FILIPPO CASTELLUCCI3, , ANDREA LUCHETTI3, , CRISTINA CASTRACANI1, , FIORENZA A. SPOTTI1, , ALESSANDRA MORI1,‡, and DONATO A. GRASSO1,‡, 1Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences & Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/a, 43124 Parma, Italy 2MTA-ELTE-MTM, Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Péter sétány 1C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary; Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary 3Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna, Italy Received 11 January 2021; revised 5 April 2021; accepted for publication 24 April 2021 The West-Palaearctic Colobopsis ant populations have long been considered a single species (Colobopsis truncata). We studied the diversity of this species by employing a multidisciplinary approach and combining data from our surveys, museum and private collections, and citizen science platforms. As a result, we have revealed the existence of a second species, which we describe as Colobopsis imitans sp. nov., distributed allopatrically from Co. truncata and living in the Maghreb, Sicily and southern Iberia. While the pigmentation of Co. truncata is reminiscent of Dolichoderus quadripunctatus, that of Co. imitans is similar to Crematogaster scutellaris, with which Co. imitans lives in close spatial association, and whose foraging trails it habitually follows, similar to Camponotus lateralis and other ant-mimicking ants.
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