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Nine New Ant Species in the Romania Fauna(Hymenoptera: Formicidae

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Nine New Ant Species in the Romania Fauna(Hymenoptera: Formicidae Entomol.rom., 6: 127-132, 2001 ISSN1224 - 2s94 Nine new ant speciesin the Romanian fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): morphology,biology, and distribution BdlintMem6. SrlndorCs6sz Abstract Nine new ant speciesfor the Romanianfauna are presented including their morphologicalchar- acteristics,biology, and distribution. Some of the species,likeMyrmica specioides, Leptothorm ffinis, Leptothoraxtuberum, and ktramorium impurum,are commonin Centraland Eastern Europe, never- thelessthey werenot recordedfrom Romania,due to their overlappingcharacteristics with someother commonspecies. Harpagoxenus sublaevis, and Formicoxenus nitidulus are socialparasites. Myrmica lonae,Leptothorax clypeatus, and Lasius distinguendus are relatively rare, poorly known species. On the basisof this study93 ant speciesare recorded from Romania,which numberis still con- sideredto be low. Rezumat Noud speciide furnici (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) noi in fauna Romffniei:morfologie, biologie 9i distribu{ie Noud specii de fumici noi pentru mirmecofaunaRom6niei sunt prezentateimpreund cu caracterelemorfologice specifice, precum gi biologia9i distribulialor. Anumitespecii, ca Myrmica specioides,Leptothorax affinis, Leptothoru tuberumqi ktramorium impurum,care sunt comunein EuropaCentrald gi de Est, au fost omisedin faunaRomdniei datoritd confunddrii 1or cu alte specii comune.Harpagoxenus sublaevis qi Formicoxenusnitidulus nu au fost semnalatepdnd acum, probabil datoritd faptului cd sunt specii social-parazite.Myrmica lonae, Leptothorm clypeatusgi Lasius distinguendussunt ins[ speciirelativ rare, a cdrorbiologie gi distribu[ieeste pufin cunoscuti. Pe bazaacestei studii mirmecofaunaRomdniei con,tine 93 de speciiactualmente, acest numdr ins[ esteconsiderat a fi o subestimarea numdruluireal de specii. keywords: Formicidae, Romania, fauna, new species Introduction succeedingin finishingit. At this momentmore tlan 80 ant speciesare Any basic ecological study which handles known to exist on the territory of Romania. When more speciessupposes the knowledge of the local comparingthis numberto the numberof ant species fauna. As such any study which clarifies the state of other Central Europeancountries, like Hungary of a fauna, should be welcome, and used in field (overlO0 species)(GnllE et al. 1998), Germany or laboratoryexperiments, as a reliable source of (over120 species) (Snrrnnr 1996), etc., it seems information. In Romania there are still problems bbvious,that the number of existing ant speciesin with the lack of faunistical data on various insect Romaniais underestimated.We could say: it is not groups,and in this very case,on ants. There were in the leastknown, when taking accountof the high very few myrmecologistswho made considerable diversity of habitatsin Romania. efforts to clari$r the state of the Romanian In this paper a few new speciesare presented, myrmecofauna,like at the beginning of the XXth some of which are known to be common in other century MuLmR, MocsAnl and later on KNEcuteL, Central and EasternEuropean countries. We consid- '60s '90s or from the to the early Panascurvpscu. er that it is almostemergent to closeup to the other He was the one who put up the referencelist of the Europeancountries in faunisticalknowledge. This Romanian mrymecofauna (PnnascHIVEScu1978), emergencyis even more emphasizedby the great '90s summing up 76 species.In the middle of the number of new Europeanant speciesdescribed in PRRq.scmvescubegan to work on a complex faunis- the last decades, tical list and on a key to the Romanianant species, but unfortunatelyhe passedaway in 2001 before 127 Materials and Methods more with Myvmica hellenica FoR-er-,1913. From M. scabrinadis it can be easily seperated on the Allthe speciespresented here were identified basisof its weakerantennal carina - which is clearly by the authors. One part of the presentedmaterial is rounded,almost lobelike inthe M. scabrinodis.The depositedin the Natural History Museum of Sibiu, shapeof the petiolarnode also differs: whereas in M the other makespart of the authors'collection. scabrinodis its dorsal surfaceis flat, and it meetsthe The identificationof the specieswas carried anterior profile in a clear angle,in M. specioidesthe out on the basisof the keys of Cor-r-rNcwooo(1979), dorsal surfaceof the petiole is rounded,dome-like, KurrEn (1977), Rq.ocueNrcoet. al. (1997), and never meetsthe anteriorprofile in a sharpangle. SErpEnr(1988, 1996). M. hellenicais also easyto confusewith this All measurementsmade by the authorswere species.However in this case the antennalcarina taken on dry preparationsusing Olympus BX 40 of M. specioidesis more prominent than in M. hel- microscope at 100x magnification. All data are lenica. Besides tn M. hellenica the scape is curved given in prm,accuracy of the measurementsis 5 prm. angularly,and not clearly angled.The petiolar node Measuredcharacters were: has similar shapeas in M. specioides.However,the FR: maximum width of frontal carinae im- frons is relatively narrower in M. specioides (HWl mediatelyposterior to the scapeinsertions; FR = 2.836, SemuRr1988), than in M. hellenica HL: maximum head length in median line (HW/FR = 2.458, Srm'arr 1988), and the head is from the clypeusto posteriorborder of occiput.The 'rectangular'(HL/HW : 1.000resp. 1.023, Surenr head must be carefuly turned until the maximum I 988). length is visible; '" Biology. It is a typical xerothermousgrass- IfW: maximum headwidth acrossthe eyes; land speciesin Central Europe. It mainly inhabits Ml-spin: mesosoma length. Measured as openareas with low, herbaceousvegetation. Supsnr maximum distance from the anterior border of (1988)found top densitiesof 48 nests/100m2. Nev- promesonotumto the tip of the propodealspine; ertheless,in Romania there weren't recordedsuch Ml-lobus: mesosoma length. Measured high densities,but it seems,that where it occurs,it as maximum distance from the anterior border of is frequent,and not in the leastrare. Inhabitsurban promesonotumto the most posteriorlower margin areas,too (SemEnr1988). Colonies rar€ly exceeda oflateral propodeallobe. It hasto be taken in lateral thousandindividuals, several queens can be found view; per colony (RnocueNroet al. 1997).Nests in soil. SL: the maximum straight line of the scape Nuptial flight takesplace in August-September. lengthexcluding the articularcondylus; Distribution. It occurs all over in Europe, MH: maximum rnesosomaheight; such as: Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the CI: cephalic index, shows the ratio of the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, head measures(HL/HW), which characterizesthe France, Southem England, Spain, Switzerland, head'sprolongation; Ukraine, SouthernRussia (RancHrNro et aL.1997, MI: mesosomaindex, (ML-spin/MH) shows Srrrenr 1988), the territory of the former Yugosla- the mesosoma'sprolongation. via, Turkey (Europeanpart), and Bulgaria (Acosrl & Cou-rNcwooD1987). Survey of Species In Romania there are few data on its distribu- tion, though it is thought to be a frequent specieson Myrmica specioidesBononorr, 1918 dry grasslands,pastures. Up to now there are data from the surroundingsof Cluj-Napocacity (FAna,tele Diagnosis. Scapeangled at the basewith a Clujului, Cluj county)- pitfall-traps,during surnmer week carina at the bases,The frontal carina is not 1996,leg. Mnmo, from pastureand thickets -, and bent backward above the insertion of the scapes. from the surroundingsof Sibiu cify (Sibiu county) The petiole is high, dome-like, the dorsal surface - 1 ?, | 3,26.10.1945, leg. WoRrLL,collection of never meets the anterior profile in an angle. The the Natural History Museum of Sibiu. posteriorprofile shows no abrupt step in its caudal slopeto the postpetiolarjunction. Its colour is red- Myrmica lonae Fwzt, 1926 dishyellow. Diagnosis.Formerly it was consideredto be Note. This speciescan be confoundedwith a variety or a subspeciesof M. sabuleti MErNunr, Myrmica scabrinodis NvLnxnnn, 1846, or even 1860,but Sntnenr(1993) recognized it as bonaspe- 128 cies.Since then it has beenhandled accordingly. Biolog.v.It is a xenobiontspecies living in the Scapeis shonglyangled at the base,and it bearsa moundsof redwood ants, especially in coloniesof horizontal,very large lobe at thebase, clearly raised F.pratensis, F rufa, E polyctena,E truncorum,and at scapelevel. The shape of this antennallobe is al- in thoseof Coptaformrcaspecies (e.g" E exsecta). mostquadrate, which is a cleardistinctive character Nests may containfrom 20 to 150 individuals, from its siblingspecies. The frontalcarinae doesn,t and sometimesmore nests are found in a single bendbackwards above the insertionof the scapes. host colony (Colr,wcwooo1979, SpmsRr 1996). Its bodyis coveredby strongrugosity. The petiole is Monogynous.It leavesthe hostnest rarely. It feeds high,dome-like, and striated throughout. Its colour on the broodof the hostspecies. Nuptial flight is in is brownish-reddish. July-August. Biology.It is little knownabout the biolory We collectedit by pirfall+rapon the territory of this species,due to the currentrecognition of of a fl pratensis supercolony.Presumably ,E its separatestatus. It seemsthat it mainly inhabits pratensiswas its host species.The other specimen forestmargins and open marshlands.Its colonies was alsofound in a E pratensr'snest. containseveral hundred workers, sometimes exceed Distribution. It is presentin Denmark,and one thousand.It nestsunder stones,or in soil, throughoutFennoscandia" locally in England,and sometimeseven in moss.RencHENKo et al. (1997) in Scotland(CollrNcwoon 1979), it can be found suggestthat it shouldbe
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