Data on Strumigenys Argiola (Emery, 1869) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Myrmicinae) from Slovakia

Folia faunistica Slovaca 20 (2) 2015: 163–166 www.ffs.sk

DATA ON STRUMIGENYS ARGIOLA (EMERY, 1869) (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE, MYRMICINAE) FROM SLOVAKIA

1 1 2

3 Milada Holecová , Mária Klesniaková , Adrián Purkart & 1 Filip Repta Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University,

2Mlynská dolina B–1, SK – 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia [[email protected], [email protected]]

3 Department of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina B2, SK-842 15 Bratislava [[email protected]] Poľovnícka 17, 900 28 Ivanka pri Dunaji, Slovakia [[email protected]] Abstract: Strumigenys argiola

Records of the cryptic dacetine ant (Emery, 1869) from four localities in western and southwestern Slovakia are presented. The territory of Slovakia represents the northern border of its known native distribution.Key words: Strumigenys argiola

, ants, Dacetini, Formicidae, Slovakia, faunistics. INTRODUCTION MATERIAL AND METHODS Strumigenis argiola

Ants of the tribe Dacetini (Myrmicinae) are tiny Four specimens of from Slova- species living in leaf litter, topsoil, rotten wood and kia were collected using several methods – Moer- rarely foraging openly above ground. All Dacetini icke traps (yellow dishes with a salt solution), for- species are predatory, hunting mainly Collembo- maldehyde pitfall traps, litter samples (extracted in la and other small insects. The structure of their Tullgren funnels) and hand collecting. mandibles reflects these specializations (Bolton 1999, Fellner et al. 2009). They are generally very The specimens were identified using Bolton’s com- small, cryptically coloured, and slow-moving, be- prehensive dacetine key (Bolton 2000). The speci- coming motionless when disturbed. As a result, mens collected in the territory of Bratislava city, and its surroundings were examined using stereomicro- dacetine ants can be easily overlooked (WetterStrumig- enyser 2011). Bolton (2000) recognizedPyramica 872 species of scope Stemi 2000 (Carl Zeiss) and photographed by a dacetine ants, placing 90% in two genera, high-resolution camera (Canon EOS 100D). Strumigenys RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (466 species, 53%) and (324 species, 37%), now combined within (Baro- Strumigenys argiola ni Urbani & de Andrade 2007). Only seven dacetine species occur in theS. Westargiola Palaearctic (BoltonS. The first record of (Fig 1) from baudueri2000, Radchenko 2007, S. Markó lewisi 2008, Bezděčka Slovakia° was published° by Deván (2008): W Slova- S.& Bezděčkovámembranifera 2009): (Emery,S. rogeri 1896), kia, Strážovské vrchy Mts, Omšenská Baba – Ihrište S. tenuipilis (Emery, 1875), Cameron,S. tenuissima 1886, (48 54’38” N, 18 14’08” E), 550 m a. s. l., leg. P. (Emery, 1869), Emery, Deván, det. et rev. D. Vepřek, G. Alpert, P. Werner. 1890, (Emery, 1915), and A single male was captured in a Moericke trap. The (Brown, 1953). trap was located on an extremely steep slope of the

Holecová M, Klesniaková M, Purkart A & Repta F, 2015: Data on Strumigenys argiola (Emery, 1869) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Myrmicinae) from Slovakia. Folia faunistica Slovaca, 20 (2): 163–166. [in English] Received 21 October 2015 ~ Accepted 16 November 2015 ~ Published 28 December 2015

Sesleria calcarea Carex hu- °11 milis southern exposition. and 17 ’26” E), 134 m a. s. l., 5. 7. 2013, 1 worker from predominated in the vegetation cover. a litter sample extracted in a Tullgren funnel, leg. et coll. M. Holecová, det. M. Klesniaková. The veg- Following unpublished records come from urban etation cover of the cemetery is artificially planted and suburban habitats of Bratislava city and its and it is continually maintained by man. surroundings. Records listed below are ordered ° ° chronologically. SW Slovakia, Malé Karpaty Mts, Bratislava city, the °11 ° cemetery Kozia brána (48 08’54” N, 17 05’57” E), SW Slovakia, Podunajská rovina lowland, Ivánka 170 m a. s. l., 17. 8. – 17. 9. 2013, one queen, in a for- pri Dunaji village (48 ’35” N, 17 15’45” E), 131 m maldehyde pitfall trap exposed in a dry grass plot, a. s. l., 30. 7. 2012, 1 male, collected individually in a leg. det. et coll. M. Holecová. This historic cemetery garden of a family house, leg. F. Repta, det. et coll. A. has the character of an old city park with many old Purkart, rev. M. Wiezik. trees and shrubs (Fig 2). Strumigenys ° argiola SW Slovakia, Podunajská rovina lowland, Brati- The currently known distribution of slava city, the cemetery Vrakuňa (48 08’35” N, in Slovakia is summarised in Fig. 3.

A C

D E

Figure 1. Strumigenys argiola

(photo: A. Šestáková): A – lateral view of a male; B – head of the same male, lateral view; C – the head of the same male, frontal view; D – lateral view of a queen; E – head of the same queen, dorsal view. Folia faunistica Slovaca 20 (2) 2015: 163–166 165

Strumigenys argiola

has so far been verified for the Bezděčka P & BezděčkováMyrmecological K, 2009: First Newsrecord of Pyra- European countries: Portugal (Boieiro et al. 1999), mica baudueri (Emery, 1875) (Hymenoptera: Formi- cidae) from Bulgaria. , 13: 1–2. Spain (Tinaut 1988, Guillem et al. 2009), France Boieiro MRC, Serrano ARM, Palma CMI & Aguiar CAS, (Bondroit 1918), Corsica (Casevitz-Weulersse 1999: EpitritusBoletim daargiolus Sociedade Emery, Portuguesa 1869: the de first Entomolo record- 1990), Switzerland (Kutter 1973, Borcard et al. giaof Dacetonini ants in Portugal (Hymenoptera, Formi- 1997), Italy (Emery 1869), Hungary (Gallé et al. cidae). 1998), former Yugoslavia (Petrov & Collingwood , 192: 113–116. Journal of Natural History 1992), Greece (Bolton et al. 2007), Austria (Fell- Bolton B, 1999: Ant genera of the tribe Dacetonini (Hy- ner et al. 2009), and Slovakia (Deván 2008 and the menoptera, Formicidae). , 33: 1639–1689. present study). Furthermore, a record exists from Bolton B, 2000: The ant tribe Dacetini. With a revision Germany where a single gyne has been found in the of the Strumigenys species of the MalagasyMemoirs Region zoological garden of Cologne (Buschinger 1997), ofby the Brian American L. Fisher, Entomological and a revision Institute of the Austral epo- but it remains to be proven that this observation postrumiform genera by Steven O. Shattuck. relatesS. argiola to a native population. , 65: 1–1028.Har- Boltonvard B,University Alpert G,Press, Ward Cambridge, PS & Naskrecki MA P, 2007: Bol- is a thermophilic species significantly ton‘s Catalogue of ants of the world: 1758–2005. preferring open landscapes. Records from Slova- Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, CD-ROM. kia confirmed this fact. Cryptic ant species are dif- Bondroit J, 1918: Les fourmis de France et de Belgique. ficult to detect with common sampling methods , 87: 1–174. used in myrmecology. We expect that further lo- Borcard Y, Borcard D, Vernier R, Matthey W & Maire S. argiola N, 1997: Epitritus argiolus Emery, 1869 (Hymenop- calities from southern parts of Slovakia will be re- Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschafttera, Formicidae) dans une prairie maigre du Jura. corded on dry grassland sites. is a native but long overlooked member of the Slovak ant fau- , 70: 265–269. Ameisen- na. The application of quantitative collection tech- Buschingerschutz aktuell A, 1997: Ein neues Gesicht: Epitritus argiolus erstmals in Deutschland beobachtet. niques (Moericke traps, litter samples, pitfall trapS. ar- ping, Winkler sifting and extracting) may improve , 11: 58–60.Bulletin du Museum National d‘- giola . Casevitz-Weulersse J, 1990: Etude systématique de la our knowledge of distribution and ecology of Histoire Naturelle myrmécofaune corse. Na- in Slovakia ACKNOWLEDGEMENT turae Tutela , 12: 415–442. Deván P, 2008: The ants of Omšenská dolina valley. Bollettino, 12: 101–104. della Societa [In Slovak]. Entomologica Italiana Emery C, 1869: Formicidarum italicorum species duae We would like to thank Dr. Anna Šestáková and novae. , Mgr. Martina Kocáková for the photographs. The 1: 135–137. study was partially supported by VEGA (Scientif- Fellner T, Borovsky V, Fiedler K, 2009: First records of the dacetine ant species Pyramica argiola (Eme- ic Grant Agency of the Ministry of the Education Myrmecological News ry, 1869) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Austria. and the Slovak Academy of Sciences), grant number , 12:Folia 167–169. entomologica hungarica, 2/0035/13. Gallé L, Csősz S, Tartally A, Kovács É, 1998: A check REFERENCES Rovartani Koezlemenyek list of Hungarian ants. , 59: 213–220. Guillem R, Bensusan K, Torres JL, Perez Ch, 2009: The Baroni Urbani C & de AndradeAnnali del ML, Museo 2007: Civico The antdi Storia tribe genus Pyramica Roger, 1862 (Hymenoptera:Boletín For de- NaturaleDacetini: Giacomolimits and Doria constituent (Genova) genera, with descrip- lamicidae) Asociación in Cádiz española province de Entomologia (southern Spain), with a tions of new species. description of methods for their capture. , 99: 1–191. , 33: 461–468.

Figure 2. Strumigenys argiola Figure 3. Strumigenys argiola

The habitat of in the urban Known distribution of in area of Bratislava (photo: M. Kocáková). Slovakia. 166 Holecová M et al.: Data on Strumigenys argiola from Slovakia

Mitteilungen der Schwei- KutterzerischenH, 1973: EntomologischenEpitritus argiolus GesellschaftEmery (?), Genus und Radchenko A, 2007: Fauna Europea: Formicidae. In: Species neu für die Schweiz. Noyes J (ed.), Fauna Europaea: Hymenoptera: Apo- , 45: 325–326. crita. Fauna Europaea version 1.3; http://www. Markó B, 2008: PyramicaFragmentabaudueri (Emery, Faunistica1875) – faunaeur.org (retrieved on 10. 10. 2015). a new ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for Tinaut A, 1988:NouvelleNuevo hallazgoRevue Entomologíade Epitritus (N.S.)argiolus the Romanian fauna. , 51: Emery, 1869 en la Península Ibérica (Hymenoptera, 101–106. Formicidae). , 5: 48. Petrov IZ &ArchivesCollingwood of BiologicalCA, 1992: Sciences,Survey Belgradeof the Wetterer, JK, 2011: Worldwide spreadMyrmecologicalof the mem- myrmecofauna (Formicidae, Hymenoptera) of Yu- Newsbraniferous dacetine ant, Strumigenys membrani- goslavia. , fera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). 44: 79–91. , 14: 129–135.