Zonal and Zoogeographic Characteristic of the Ant Fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Ukraine

One hundred fourty ant species belonging to 38 genera of 5 subfamilies are known to occur in Ukraine nowadays. All the species are attributed to 16 zoogeographic complexes that are grouped into three faunogenetic classes. Comparative zonal and zoogeographical analysis of the fauna of different geographical regions of Ukraine has revealed their essential heterogeneity. The ant fauna of the Forest-Steppe zone is not original. At the same time, it is not transitive between the faunae of the Forest and Steppe zones. Ant fauna of the Forest-Steppe is related to those not the Steppe but the Forests zones, and the Forest-Steppe can be included in the southern subzone of a Forest zone of t Europe.В Украине известно 140 видов муравьев из 38 родов 5 подсемейств. Выделены 16 зоогеографических комплексов, отнесенных к трем фауногенетическим классам. Сравнительный зональный и зоогеографический анализ фаун различных физико-географических регионов Украины выявил их существенную разнородность. Показано, что фауна муравьев Лесостепи не является самобытной. В то же время, она не является переходной между фаунами лесов и степной зоны. По происхождению мирмекофауна Лесостепи связана с таковой не степной, а лесных зон, и, на основании данных о распространении муравьев, Лесостепь может быть включена в состав южной подзоны лесной зоны Европы

The First Record of the Subfamily Aenictinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Iran

Aenictus dlusskyi Arnoldi, 1968, представитель подсемейства Aenictinae, впервые приведен для фауны Ирана. Собранный материал сравнен с типами двух близких видов: A. dlusskyi и A. rhodiensis Menozzi. Показаны различия между этими видами.Aenictus dlusskyi Arnoldi, 1968, the member of the subfamily Aenictinae, is recorded for the first time from Iran. Collected material was compared with the types of two closely related species, A. dlusskyi and A. rhodiensis Menozzi. Differences between these species are shown

First Description of the Sexual Forms of Seven Himalayan Myrmica Species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

В статье приведены первоописания самок семи и самцов четырех видов Myrmica. Эти виды были описаны по рабочим в период между 1865 и 1947 г. Все они составляют часть фауны мирмик, населяющих юго-западный макросклон Гималаев. Приведены рисунки, промеры и индексы описываемых форм, а также дано их сравнение с близкими видами.First descriptions of queens of seven of Myrmica ant species and males of four of these species are given. The species were first described between 1865 and 1947 from workers. They form part of the distinctive Himalayan Myrmica fauna that inhabit the south-western slopes of the Himalaya. Drawings, measurements and indices of the specimens are provided and the key characters that distinguish them from the other related Himalayan Myrmica species are noted

Changes in host ant communities of Alcon Blue butterflies in abandoned mountain hay meadows

1. Land use intensification is a general threat to biodiversity, but many species depend on low-intensity agricultural ecosystems. One example is European mountain meadow ecosystems, traditionally managed by hay harvesting or livestock grazing. Abandoning management often causes population declines, local extinctions and biotic homogenisation in these meadows. 2. We studied changes in the Myrmica host ant communities of the xerophilic form of the ant-parasitic Alcon Blue butterfly (Maculinea alcon) in four hay meadows in the Bükk mountains of Hungary between 2000–2007 and 2018. Abandonment started in this region in the 1970s, accelerated in the 1980s, and culminated in the 1990s. 3. We found that the Myrmica ant community has changed substantially in less than two decades. Diversity of the ant community always decreased, and species composition became more homogeneous at two sites. Habitat suitability for Maculinea butterflies decreased at three sites and increased at only one site, where management was restarted 20 years after abandonment. 4. The number of M. alcon caterpillars and pupae, the rate of infestation of ant nests and the mean number of caterpillars and pupae per ant nest decreased between the two periods, whereas host ant specificity did not differ from random in either period. 5. We conclude that the unfavourable changes in the host ant community due to abandonment have negative consequences for the persistence of Maculinea populations. Our study highlights the need for detailed monitoring, and the maintenance of low-intensity management by mowing or grazing to avoid the decline of biodiversity dependent on low-intensity agriculture

Conservation of co-evolved interactions: understanding the Maculinea–Myrmica complex

1. The six papers in this Special Issue of Insect Conservation and Diversity are presented as a gedenkschrift honouring ground‐breaking contributions made by the late Graham Elmes towards understanding the biology of Myrmica ants and their social parasites. 2. A common theme is that each research paper contributes new knowledge applicable to the future survival of Maculinea (= Phengaris) species of butterflies, which have become flagships for insect conservation across Europe. All Maculinea species are highly specialised, with larvae that feed briefly on a specific foodplant before living underground for 11–23 months as social parasites of Myrmica colonies. 3. This introductory overview provides a brief history of the research that has led to the current collection, with emphasis on Graham Elmes' life and work. It is followed by three research papers that illustrate the diversity, socio‐biology and ecology of Myrmica ants. A fourth describes an extreme adaptation that increases the efficiency with which some populations of Maculinea larvae exploit the resources within Myrmica nests. A fifth, more theoretical, paper models the constraints that typically lead to host specificity among social parasites and explores why host switches are rare and quick

First Description of the Female of Myrmica ritae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), With Some Notes on the ritae Group

The first known female of Myrmica ritae Emery is described and compared with the other known females of the ritae complex (M. serica Wheeler, M. indica Weber and M. gigantea (Collingwood). It differs from all three species bystraight (not sinuous) longitudinal ragae on the head dorsum, a shorter head and by relatively longer propodeal spines. M. rigatoi Radchenko et Elmes is proposed to be excluded from ritae group. Some new localities are added to the distribution of M. gigantea and M. urbanii Radchenko et Elmes.Впервые описана самка Myrmica ritae Emeryи проведено ее сравнение с другими известными самками видов из комплекса ritae (Она отличается от самок выше указанных видов прямыми, не волнистыми продольными морщинками на голове, более короткой головой и сравнительно более длинными шипами проподеума

Chalepoxenus hyrcanus – a new ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Azerbaijan

A new ant species, Chalepoxenus hyrcanus sp. n., is described based on a queen from Azerbaijan (Talysh Mts.). This is the ninth known species of sociallyparasitic genus Chalepoxenus Menozzi, 1923. In Appendix measurements of the holotype Ch. zabelini Radchenko, 1989 are given