The mimicry complex of the acrobat ant Crematogaster scutellaris in Tunisia: Colobopsis imitans and Mimocoris rugicollis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae; Heteroptera: Miridae)

The ant Crematogaster scutellaris, distributed across the western Mediterranean region and east to the west Balkans, is a visual mimicry model for various other organisms, including different other species of ants. It is an ecologically and behaviorally dominant species, foraging through large permanent trails that workers pugnaciously defend by biting and spraying a toxic secretion. Here we report on two interesting novelties discovered by monitoring Cr. scutellaris foraging trails in Tunisia: first, we present the first records of the mimicking ant Colobopsis imitans in the country, fi lling a distribution gap and confirming a previous biogeographic hypothesis; second, we identified the mirid Mimocoris rugicollis, whose brachypterous females are known as myrmecomorphs, as a mimic of Cr. scutellaris. Both Co. imitans and M. rugicollis were observed following or stationing near Cr. scutellaris trails, often in the presence of another mimicking ant, Camponotus lateralis. Still little is known about the ecology and behavior of most Cr. scutellaris mimics, with some species still undescribed. Further research is needed to investigate the evolutionary pressures shaping this adaptation.