Lasius pallescens (Schenck 1852)

Formica pallescens Schenck 1852

Schenck observed a swarming nest at the trunk of an oak near Dillenburg / Hessen. He collected a gyne and a male and described the gyne to be 3.5 lines long, to have a pale yellowish head, mesosoma, petiole, antennae, mandibles and legs, a brown gaster, hirsute scapes and tibiae and hyaline wings. The male was reported to be 2 lines long, to have a brown head, brownish mandibles, a yellowish mesosoma with three brown longitudinal stripes, a brownish scutellum and posterior part of mesosoma and hyaline wings. If Schenck meant Prussian lines, the gyne and male were 7.6 and 4.4 mm long – if referring to Hessian lines 8.8 and 5 mm. This description strongly indicates genus Lasius but I do not know a German species to which such a character combination might refer.