Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, nº 42 (2008): 349-351. ADDITIONS TO THE ANT FAUNA OF PORTUGAL (HVMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) X. Espadaler1, M. BOieiro2, R. Azedo3, C. Bernardes4, D. Figueiredo3 & A. R. M. Serrano2 1 Unidad de Ecología and CREAF, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. - [email protected] 2 Centro de Bio[ogia Ambiental/Departamento de Biologia Anima[, Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749• 016 Lisboa, Portugal- [email protected] 3 Centro de Ecologia e Ambiente, Universidade de Évora, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal - [email protected], [email protected] 4 Instituto de H[giene e Medicina Tropical, Rua da Junqueira 96, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal - [email protected] Abstract: One ant subfamily - Leptanillinae - and four species - Bothriomyrmex saundersi, Leptanilla revelierii, Temnothorax parvulus and Temnothorax sp. - are added to the myrmecofauna of continental Portugal. New findings oftwo other uncommon species - Dolichoderus quadripunctatus and Amblyopone gaetulica - are also reported. Key words: Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Leptanil[inae, Iberian Peninsula, Portugal. Adiciones a la fauna de hormigas de Portugal (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Resumen: Se añade una subfamilia - Leptani[linae - y cuatro especies - Bothriomyrmex saundersi, Leptanilla revelierii, Temnothorax parvulus y Temnothorax sp. - a la fauna de hormigas de Portugal, y se aportan nuevas localidades para otras dos especies poco conocidas de ese país: Dolichoderus quadripunctatus y Amblyopone gaetulica. Palabras clave: Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Leptanilinae, Península Ibérica, Portugal. Introduction The building of comprehensive databases of any insect intent to study the ants from the Atlantic region ofthe Ibe• group in a given region is a collective effort and a long rian Peninsula. Some other papers (Boieiro et al., 1999, lasting, cumulative process. The need for such an attainment 2002; Salgueiro 2002b, 2003) have subsequently added is now unquestionable (Blackmore, 1996; Norris, 2000; interesting findings to the list of ants of Portugal. The pre• Raven & Wilson, 1992) and has developed into vast intema• sent paper shows that any inventory should be considered tional research programmes like Diversitas (http://www. provisional: here we add one ant subfamily - Leptanillinae diversitas-intemational.org/) and recent books (Samways, - and four species - Bothriomyrmex saundersi, Leptanilla 2005) and collective efforts like the Joumal ofInsect Con• revelierii, Temnothorax parvulus and Temnothorax sp. - to servation. Many software tools for biodiversity data man• the ant fauna of Portugal. agement (http://darwin.eeb .uconn.edu/links/ category .php?id =40) and analysis may be also freely available (http://vice Resuits and discussion roy.eeb.uconn.edu/EstimateS or http://www.gary entsmin ger. com/ ecosiml ecosim.htm). Subfam. DOLICHODERINAE During the last few years there has also been a consid• erable effort in Iberia and Macaronesia to update the know• • Bothriomyrmex saundersi Santschi, 1922 ledge on the terrestrial arthropod biodiversity and to provide This biologically interesting and taxonomically difficult valuable tools for conservation planning and management genus was known from only one place in Portugal (Schmitz, [e.g., Arechavaleta et al. 2005; Borges et al. 2005; Izquierdo 1955), under the name of B. meridionalis (Roger, 1863). At et al. 2004; and the projects Fauna Iberica (http://www. present, it is extremely difficult to name ants of this genus fauna-iberica.nmcn.csic.es/index.php) and Biota-Especies in the Mediterranean Region because of the similarity be• (http://www.gobcan.es/medioambi ente/biodi versidad/ cepla tween species and scarcity ofuseful morphological charac• mlbancodatos/biotaespecies.html)). Nevertheless there is teristics to differentiate species. More than 27 taxa have still missing a reference work on the ant fauna ofIberia that been described or mentioned for the Mediterranean Basin summarizes the large amount of scientific data produced and, despite only three species have been reported from during the last decades, emphasizing the high species rich• Iberia, a minimum offive distinct morphological entities are ness and the uniqueness of Iberian ants, and replacing the k:nown from this geographic area. The identity ofthe single major reference on this subject (Collingwood, 1978) now worker cOllected is, therefore, tentative. Its head is longer out of date. Several efforts have already been made (see than wide, its colour is uniform and the alitrunk: is relatively http://www .hormigas. org, http://www .mirmiberica. org) and short, fitting the description of B. saundersi in Collingwood we hope they will also be a stimulus for a much thorough (1978). The specimen was cOllected in pitfall traps at Te• analysis on the biodiversity and ecology of Iberian ants. soureira (29SMD8709), during l-12/May/200l, in an area The key works for the Portuguese myrmecofauna are of matorral s where Quercus coccifera, Pistacia lentiscus, those from Collingwood & Prince (1998) and the excellent Lonicera etrusca, Genista sp., Cistus crispus and Cistus paper of Salgueiro (2002a). They fumish the base for any salvifolius were the most abundant plant species. In the 349 same habitat we have also found Tapinoma nigerrimum, a 4/July/2003 (1) in pitfall traps. This wide range oftime for species with which Bothrio-myrmex ants might be asso• flying males -from mid June to late September- was also ciated. Species of the genus Bothriomyrmex are known to be noted in a north-eastem Spanish locality (Espadaler & social parasites of other ant species (e.g., Tapinoma spp.) López-Soria, 1991). Interestingly, this enlarged flying time forcolony foundation (Buschinger, 1986; Santschi, 1920). window is also known for Dorylinae (Gotwald, 1995) that share with Leptanillinae the hypogaeic and predatory life• • Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (Linnaeus, 1771) style. This species, formerly known fram several 10ca1ities in westem Portugal (Schmitz 1950), has remained elusive for Subfam. MYRMICINAE more than 50 years. At 81August/2005, we located a colony of this species near Badamalos and Miuzela do Coa • Temnothorax parvulus (Schenck, 1852) (29TPE709841) fram which we collected some individual s The specimens (8) were collected in pitfall traps at Risco, for identification. The colony was nesting on an alder (Al• Serra da Arrábida (29SMC9757), between 28/July and nus glutinosa) at the banks of the Coa River and many of 11/August/2003. The traps were located in a scrubland the individual s were involved in cooling ant larvae at the patch dominated by Cistus spp., near the margin of a cereal trunk surface. The apparent rarity ofthis species is probably field. In Iberia this species uses as nesting sites diverse plant due to the mismatch between its peculiar life habitats and structures such as partIy ratten acoms, oak galls or pine the traditional sampling pracedures used by most myrme• cones and small twigs on soil surface. cologists, which usually involve the study of soil surface • Temnothorax sp. dwelling ant species. Directed, biased, collecting in dead This soil nesting, morphologically very characteristic spe• twigs on trees and oak galls (Espadaler & Nieves, 1983) is cies is already known fram severallocalities in Spain (pra• probably needed to detect this strictly arboricolous and beautiful ant. vinces of Ciudad Real, Córdoba, Madrid, Granada; unpub• lished observations) and is in course of formal description by DI. A. Tinaut (Granada University, Spain). Subfam. LEPT ANILLINAE A 1arge number of specimens (72) were collected in • Leptanilla revelierii Emery, 1870. pitfall traps during July 1999 at the Herdade da Mitra, This finding is the first record of Leptanillinae ants in Por• Évora (29SNC856658). The habitat was an evergreen oak tugaL The specimens were identified using the original (Quercus rotundifolia) woodland with the undercover description (Emery, 1870), the keys from Barani Urbani dominated by Cistus spp., Ornithopus spp., Genista triacan• (1977) and López et al. (1994). The presence ofparticular thos and Tolpis barbata. Another single specimen was col• morphological characteristics point to L. revelierii, namely lected in pitfall traps, during September 2005, in a small non protruding anterior clypeal border, relatively long scape patch of pine forest located at Souto (29SND6580), concel• and visible ventral postpetiole protuberance (Fig. 1). The ho de Abrantes. This area was regularly subjectedto human mandible has four denticles and thisfits with Emery's origi• disturbance and presented sparse trees of Pinuspinaster and nal description: " ... denticulis quatuor acutis armatae". This a poorly developed undercoveI. four-denticle mandibles are also figured by Emery (1899; fig. c; type). Subfam ..PONERINAE This exceedingIy scarce hypogaeic ant is an unpre• • Amblyopone gaetulica Barani Urbani, 1978 dictable finding and needs specifically focused sampling Two workers ofthis species were collected beneath a stone methods (Espadaler & López-Soria, 19(1). Nineteen work• ers were collected beneath a stone at Monte Femandes in an evergreen scrubland near A1coutim (29SPB3449) at 51April/2004. The mesosternal pracess ofboth specimens is (29SPB2265), near Mértola, in 4/April/2004. The habitat not as pointed as in formerly known Iberian specimens patch where the finding took place was a scrubland domi• (Boieiro et al. 2002) indicating that it is a variable trait, nated by Cistus ladanifer plants. Males