中国红蚁属分类研究(膜翅目:蚁科)

记述中国红蚁属Myrmica Latreille昆虫11种,其中1种为中国新纪录种,即盖列尼红蚁M.gallieni Bondroit;描述1新种,太白红蚁M.taibaiensis sp.nov。新种与M.inezae相近,其不同处为：1）新种上颚咀嚼缘具8齿,端部2齿尖长,从第3齿开始变为细齿,后者上颚咀嚼缘具9齿,端部4齿较粗大,2）新种并胸腹节刺指向斜后上方,后者并胸腹节刺较直立;3）新种体色成双色,胸部颜色明显淡于头部及腹部,后者体色一致。文中编制了11个种的工蚁分种检索表。     

Three new species of genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Himalaya

Three new species of the genus Myrmica are described from the Himalayas. Myrmica curvispinosa sp. nov., Myrmica kothiensis sp. nov. and Myrmica religiosa sp. nov. belong to the Myrmica inezae species group, which is earlier represented by 4 species. Myrmica curvispinosa sp. nov. is described based on worker and gyne, with a report of ergatoid as well. Myrmica kothiensis sp. nov. and Myrmica religiosa sp. nov. are described based on worker caste only. A key to the species of the Myrmica inezae species group has been provided in the following.     

Higher productivity at the cost of increased host-specificity when Maculinea butterfly larvae exploit ant colonies through trophallaxis rather than by predation

Abstract .1. Field studies were made of the benefits and costs of two feeding strategies in the genus Maculinea, whose final-instar larvae parasitise Myrmica ant colonies. Maculinea arion is an obligate predator of ant brood, whereas M. rebeli and M. alcon mimic ant larvae and are fed (like cuckoos) directly by the workers.
2. Samples of > 1500 Myrmica nests confirmed laboratory-based predictions that, by feeding at a lower trophic level, many (4.7-fold) more individuals of M. rebeli and M. alcon are supported per ant colony than M. arion.
3. Because of their efficient feeding, cuckoo species often occupied sites where their phytophagous early larval populations coincided to only a small extent (> 10%) with host Myrmica colonies, whereas all sites supporting M. arion had 50–100% of the phytophagous stages within foraging range of the host Myrmica species.
4. Greater host-specificity was identified as another consequence of cuckoo-feeding. The ecological cost of this is discussed .
5. The feeding of other Maculinea species had not been fully described: the data suggest that M. nausithous is a predator of ant brood and confirm that M. teleius is predacious .     

中国扁胸切叶蚁属一新种及红蚁属一新纪录种(膜翅目,蚁科)

报道了采自湖北西部地区的扁胸切叶蚁属1新种和红蚁属中国1新纪录种,即亮颚扁胸切叶蚁Vollenhovialucimandibula sp.nov.和乌尔班红蚁Myrmica urbanii Radchenko et Elmes.新种与埃氏扁胸切叶蚁V.emeryi Wheeler相似,但新种身体黑褐色,第2结节背面具密集粗糙刻点,上颚光亮无刻点.模式标本保存于湖北民族学院昆虫标本室.     

DNA barcoding as a heuristic tool for classifying undescribed Nearctic Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The Palearctic species of the ant genus Myrmica are well studied. In contrast, the taxonomy of the Nearctic species is outdated, making identification impossible. We collected Myrmica samples in the Holarctic and investigated their diversity using mtDNA data. We analysed a barcode sequence of the Cytochrome Oxidase I gene for 57 Palearctic and 293 Nearctic Myrmica samples. We used sequences of known Palearctic species to search for Myrmica barcode patterns. All but one Palearctic species groups were recovered. The Nearctic diversity was much higher than known. We retrieved the punctiventris, crassirugis and incompleta groups, and established nine additional tentative species groups. Genetic distance analysis revealed a large overlap of intra- and inter-specific distances in Palearctic species and species groups. We could not find a variation gap to separate Nearctic sequences into species with COI data only. Variation in scape morphology divided two genetic groups further. Scape morphology correlated with most molecular groups, except three specimens. Our results illustrate that barcoding, using only a limited amount of genetic information, cannot serve as a universal proxy for taxonomy and species demarcation. It should be considered a first step in understanding the taxonomic diversity of an unknown group of organisms.     

The ecology of Myrmica ants in relation to the conservation of Maculinea butterflies

Maculinea butterflies in Europe, and probably most of Asia, are host specific social parasites of various species of Myrmica ants. The latest summary of field data showing the pattern of host specificity by Maculinea is presented. Myrmica ants have been well studied in the laboratory but much less is known about the ecology of their natural populations. While the former is important in understanding the adaptive evolution of Maculinea larval behaviours, the latter is of more practical importance to conservationists charged with the protection of specific populations of Maculinea. The current knowledge of habitat partition, colony growth and colony reproduction within communities of Myrmica ants is summarized in relation to the ecology of Maculinea species. Concepts used in current population simulation models are explained. A key concept is the idea that community structure (both number of species and size and abundance of nests) is controlled by the quantity and quality of suitable nest sites. Some advice is given to conservationists who might need to manipulate Myrmica ant populations in order to maintain a robust population of a Maculinea species. © Rapid Science Ltd. 1998     

Larvae of Maculinea rebeli, a large-blue butterfly, and their Myrmica host ants: wild adoption and behaviour in ant-nests

The behavioural interactions between caterpillars of Maculinea rebeli Hir. and their Myrmica ant hosts were studied, both in the wild at the time of adoption, and inside captive nests of six Myrmica species.
In the wild, freshly moulted, final instar caterpillars left their food-plants at a time of day that coincided with the peak foraging activity of Myrmica (18:00-20:00 h). Once on the ground, caterpillars made no attempt to search for Myrmica but settled and waited for foraging ants to find them, which took up to 1.5 h. There was no adoption ritual: foragers of any Myrmica species picked up the caterpillars within 1–4 sec of discovery, and carried them directly to their nests.
Caterpillars grew from < 2 mg to 110 mg in laboratory ant-nests. About 60 mg was gained in autumn but 40% of this was lost during the winter, while the temperature was < 14 °C. Although caterpillars survived best with their normal host, Myrmica schencki , they could also survive in the nests of other Myrmica species. The presence of queen ants had no effect upon survival. The behaviour of the caterpillars was described and illustrated: this included the production of secretions that were drunk by the ants, begging for food and direct feeding by ants. The preferred solid food was ant eggs.
The results are discussed in terms of the social biology of Myrmica ants. It is hypothesized that Maculinea rebeli caterpillars mimic the touch pheromones of ant worker-larvae. This would explain the inability of ants to recognize caterpillars before touching them, their immediate adoption by any Myrmica species after discovery, host specificity inside wild ant-nests, the absence of queen-effect and the intimate attention of host workers.     

Ant species distribution in a sandy coastal plain

Abstract.

• 1 Three species of ants, Lasius niger, Myrmica rubra and Myrmica scabrinodis, have been recorded in a 20-year-old coastal plain on the Dutch Wadden Zee island, Schiermonnikoog.
• 2 The habitats of these species appeared to be clearly segregated, both horizontally (different parts of the plain) and vertically (along dune slope gradients in the plain).
• 3 Lasius niger is distributed throughout the plain in sparsely vegetated sand-dunes and in mounds covered with turf of Festuca rubra ssp. litoralis, but always in areas that are only waterlogged or inundated in winter.
• 4 Myrmica rubra is limited to Festuca-turf, occurring in a distinct zone along the bases of small dunes and on isolated mounds.
• 5 Myrmica scabrinodis only occurs in mounds covered with Festuca-tutf and rarely in the small dunes.
• 6 Analysis of soil, vegetation, inundation and salinity of the ground-water demonstrated that Myrmica scabrinodis is dominant in areas with more silt and salt in the soil, characterized by a vegetation with more typical halophytes, whereas Myrmica rubra occurs most frequently in sandy habitats without much salt stress. The populations of both Myrmica species and Lasius niger do not seem to be affected by inundation during winter.
• 7 The distribution of the ant species is discussed in relation to data about ants in more stable habitats. In particular, attention is given to the absence, in this coastal plain, of Lasius flavus which is a dominant species in the sand-dunes and neighbouring parts of the salt-marsh on Schiermonnikoog.

     

A review of the Banchus-group of ichneumon-flies, with a revision of the Australian genus Philogalleria (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

ABSTRACT. The composition and relationships of the Banchus genus-group are discussed. A key to the genera is provided and for each genus a diagnosis and notes are given. A new genus and species are described. The genus Philogalleria Cameron is revised: six species (five of them new) are recognized, described and keyed. Rhynchobanchus is newly recorded from Britain and a key is given to its European species.     

Parentage analyses in ant colonies using simple sequence repeat loci

In ants of the genus Myrmica , female progeny may be the offspring of one to several different queens. In addition, both workers and queens are capable of producing haploid male offspring. Even in such complex colonies, parentage can be assigned on the basis of genotypic variation at highly polymorphic simple sequence repeat loci. Methods are described for isolating and screening dinucleotide repeat loci in ants. Three independent loci, Myrt2, Myrt3 and Myrt4, show expected heterozygosities of 0.94, 0.92 and 0.95, respectively. When used in parallel these loci should be sufficient to establish parentage in the vast majority of screened colonies. An initial screening indicates that males are produced by workers in the subalpine ant Myrmica 'near tahoensis'.     

Larval niche selection and evening exposure enhance adoption of a predacious social parasite, Maculinea arion (large blue butterfly), by Myrmica ants

Larvae of the butterfly genus Maculinea feed briefly on a foodplant before being adopted as social parasites into Myrmica ant nests. Each Maculinea species typically survives only with a single Myrmica species, yet the eggs are laid across the overlapping territories of 3-5 Myrmica species and several other ants. The ability of Maculinea arion - a 'predatory' species of Maculinea - to influence its adoption into host Myrmica colonies was studied for the first time in the field. Some earlier reports, involving captive non-host ants, suggested that larvae of the predatory Maculinea follow ant trails into host nests or wander some distance from their foodplant before being discovered and (after a long interaction) carried away by Myrmica foragers. No dispersal from foodplants occurred in wild Maculinea arion larvae. Instead, they increased by >100-fold their probability of being discovered and adopted by Myrmica spp., rather than by ants of other genera, by exposing themselves in the micro-niche occupied by Myrmica foragers at their time of day of peak foraging. Despite a complex, hour-long interaction with Myrmica workers before being carried to the nest, Maculinea arion did not enhance its adoption by host species of Myrmica. Eggs were laid without bias in Myrmica sabuleti (host) and Myrmica scabrinodis (non-host) territories; larval survival on Thymus was the same in both ants' territories; larvae waited to be found beneath their foodplant rather than seek their host; Myrmica sabuleti and Myrmica scabrinodis foraged in the same vertical and temporal niches, and had the same probability of discovering larvae; both ants behaved identically after finding larvae and took the same time to adopt them; and the ratio of wild larvae taken into Myrmica sabuleti or Myrmica scabrinodis nests was the same as the distribution between these ants of Thymus, eggs and pre-adoption larvae.     

Ultrastructure of muscle cells in Acetabulostoma (Crustacea, Ostracoda) – mussel shrimp from the Ross Sea (Antarctica)

Two new antarctic species of the genus Schizotricha Allman have been studied. The material comes from the Scotia Sea (Antarctica) and was collected by the Spanish antarctic expedition `Antártida 8611'. Both species are described and figured and the systematic position is discussed. A general survey of the geographical and bathymetrical distribution of the antarctic and subantarctic species of the genus is given. Finally, a key for the identification of the antarctic and subantarctic species of the genus, together with a comparative table including main features, are presented. Received: 4 April 1997 / Accepted: 18 July 1997     

Effects of inundation and salt on the survival of ants in a sandy coastal plain

Abstract. 1. Survival of four species of ants, Myrmica rubra, Myrmica scabrinodis, Lasius niger and Lasius flavus , exposed to prolonged inundation and the drinking of brackish water, was experimentally determined.
2. In most of the experiments, survival of Lasius flavus workers was much worse than either Lasius niger or Myrmica scabrinodis .
3. After inundation with brackish water, and drinking of brackish water for more than 3 weeks, survival of workers of Myrmica rubra was also more affected than that of Lasius niger and Myrmica scabrinodis .
4. As a rule, survival of dealated queens after inundation appeared to be better in Lasius flavus and Lasius niger , but worse in Myrmica rubra , compared with worker survival.
5. After surviving inundation, the capacity to produce eggs and workers was only slightly affected in queens of both Lusius species.
6. The conclusions based on the experimental mortality rates seem to be consistent both with ant species distribution and with frequency of inundation and salt stress in different parts of the coastal plain and surrounding sand-dunes on the Dutch Wadden island Schiermonnikoog.     

The quantity and quality of overwintered larvae in five species of Myrmica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The numbers of queens, workers and larvae were recorded for a sample of hibernating colonies from five different species of Myrmica. The larvae were divided into three size classes. The frequencies and distribution of larvae within these size classes have been compared between species and between queened and queenless colonies. A sample of each larval class was reared to the pupal stage and the resulting castes were recorded. The Discussion compares all the species with Myrmica rubra and attempts to explain the differences observed for the different species.     

Myrmica elmesi (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) a new species from Himalaya

Myrmica elmesisp. n. is described from Himalaya. This species belongs to the pachei group of Myrmica speciesand is distinct from the species described in this group hitherto, which is represented by 14 species including three from Indian Himalaya. Myrmica elmesi is the fourth species of the diverse pachei group found in Himalaya; it was collected from the transitional zone and is described with notes on its ecology, this gains significance in the sense that ecology of most of the old world Myrmica is either unknown or poorly known.