Published May 27, 2024 | Version v1

Myrmoxenus kraussei Vu Myrmicinae

  • 1. Department of Zoology and Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University, 8 Dragan Tsankov str., Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 2. HUN-REN-ELTE-MTM Integrative Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Péter ave 1 / C, Budapest 1117, Hungary & Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Institute of Biology, ELTE-Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter ave 1 / C, Budapest 1117, Hungary
  • 3. Institute of Earth Systems, Division of Rural Sciences and Food Systems, University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta

Description

Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: BFUS-I-AG 001995; recordedBy: M. Langourov; individualCount: 1; sex: queen; preparations: pinned; occurrenceID: D271AAA3-2B74-5B38-BC98-9D5F798A89A3; Taxon: scientificName: Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915); order: Hymenoptera; family: Formicidae; taxonRank: species; Location: country: Bulgaria; county: Blagoevgrad; municipality: Strumyani; locality: Struma Valley, near Kamenitsa vill.; minimumElevationInMeters: 170; maximumElevationInMeters: 240; decimalLatitude: 41.650; decimalLongitude: 23.167; Event: samplingProtocol: soil traps; startDayOfYear: 07-09 - 2002; endDayOfYear: 27-09 - 2002; habitat: xerothermophilic site with Quercus coccifera L.; Record Level: collectionID: BFUS; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: BFUS-I-AG 001995; recordedBy: M. Langourov; individualCount: 1; sex: worker; preparations: pinned; occurrenceID: 39583CA7-6A53-55DC-8F37-7F1094C33064; Taxon: scientificName: Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915); order: Hymenoptera; family: Formicidae; taxonRank: species; Location: country: Bulgaria; county: Blagoevgrad; municipality: Strumyani; locality: Struma Valley, near Kamenitsa vill.; minimumElevationInMeters: 170; maximumElevationInMeters: 240; decimalLatitude: 41.650; decimalLongitude: 23.167; Event: samplingProtocol: soil traps; startDayOfYear: 07-09 - 2002; endDayOfYear: 27-09 - 2002; habitat: xerothermophilic site with Quercus coccifera L.; Record Level: collectionID: BFUS; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Notes

Although the species was considered a degenerate slave-maker because of its very low worker number, Suefuji and Heinze (2015) suggest that it may be actively involved in slave raiding. Myrmoxenus kraussei has a Mediterranean distribution and prefers xerothermophilic habitats, where it most commonly uses Temnothorax recedens as a host (Buschinger 1989, Tinaut et al. 2005). Only two records of M. kraussei were recently reported from Bulgaria (Vrachanska Mt.) (Ljubomirov 2019). It is well distinguished by long, pointed setae (145-170 μm) on the body.

Notes

Published as part of Lapeva-Gjonova, Albena, Csősz, Sándor & Mifsud, David, 2024, Further records of social parasitic ants in Europe and review of the Bulgarian species, pp. e 123575 in Biodiversity Data Journal 12 on page e123575, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e123575

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Material sample ID
bfus-i-ag 001995
Scientific name authorship
Vu Myrmicinae
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Hymenoptera
Family
Formicidae
Genus
Myrmoxenus
Species
kraussei
Taxon rank
species
Type status
other material
Taxonomic concept label
Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915) sec. Lapeva-Gjonova, Csősz & Mifsud, 2024

References

  • Suefuji Masaki, Heinze Jürgen 2015 Degenerate slave-makers, but nevertheless slave-makers? Host worker relatedness in the ant Myrmoxenus kraussei Integrative Zoology 10 2 182 185 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1749-4877.12120 10.1111/1749-4877.12120
  • Buschinger Alfred 1989 Evolution, speciation, and inbreeding in the parasitic ant genus Epimyrma (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Journal of Evolutionary Biology 2 265 283 10.1046/j.1420-9101.1989.2040265.x
  • Tinaut A., Ruano F., Martínez M. D., D M. 2005 Biology, distribution and taxonomic status of the parasitic ants of the Iberian Peninsula (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Myrmicinae) Sociobiology 46 449 489
  • Ljubomirov Toshko 2019 Review of the hymenopteran fauna (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of the Vratchanska Planina Mountains with a checklist of species Bechev Dimitar, Georgiev Dilian Faunistic diversity of Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park. Part 2 Plovdiv University Press Plovdiv 81-106