Myrmica bibikoffi

Myrmica bibikoffi
Conservation status
	; Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Myrmicini
Genus:	Myrmica
Species:	M. bibikoffi
Binomial name
	Myrmica bibikoffi; Kutter, 1963 Specimen Label

Bibikoff found all castes of this species living independently, but the two other colony samples were collected in the nests of Myrmica sabuleti where only workers of the host species were found. It has also been reported with Myrmica spinosior (de la Mora et al., 2021; Garcia et al., 2008; Jansen et al., 2010). While M. bibikoffi is primarily a temporary social parasite, in some ecological situations it can only survive as a permanent social parasite. (Radchenko & Elmes, 2003). Males were captured in a swarm in Galicia, Spain (García et al., 2008).

At a Glance

• Temporary parasite

Identification

A member of the sabuleti complex of the scabrinodis species group. M. bibikoffi is characterized by strongly reduced spurs on the hid and mid tibiae, a coarse reticulated sculpture on head and alitrunk, wide postpetiole of workers and queens, and hairy body. It is similar to Myrmica hirsuta and shares the same host, Myrmica sabuleti. Queens are larger than those of M. hirsuta and also differ by their body sculpture and narrower frons. (Radchenko and Elmes 2003)

Garcia et al. (2024), Figure 1. Scapes in dorsal view of gynes of: (A) M. karavajevi from Truébano de Babia; (B) M. babiensis; (C) M. bibikoffi from Spain.
Garcia et al. (2024), Figure 7. Eyes in frontal view of gynes of: (7A) M. babiensis; (7B) M. bibikoffi from Spain.
Garcia et al. (2024), Figure 9B. Petiole in dorsal view of M. bibikoffi gyne from Spain.
Garcia et al. (2024), Figure 10B. Head in frontal view of gyne of M. bibikoffi from Spain.

Garcia et al. (2024), Table 1. Biometric measurements and indexes following Radchenko and Elmes (2010) of M. babiensis, M. aloba (own data, in microns, mean ± standard deviation (minimum; maximum)) and other big sized parasitic Myrmica gynes (minimum–maximum, data taken from Radchenko and Elmes, 2003).

Species	Myrmica babiensis n=19	Myrmica aloba n=14	Myrmica laurae n=14	Myrmica bibikoffi n=2	Myrmica hirsuta n=36	Myrmica myrmicoxena n=6
HL	1155.5 ± 34.9 (1078; 1212)	1321.8 ± 28 (1278; 1361)	950–1090	1240–1400	1000–1180	1020–1050
HW	1070.6 ± 37.3 (979; 1137)	1185.1 ± 32.9 (1145; 1228)	870–1050	1220–1340	880–1100	940–970
SL	753.1 ± 25 (712; 792)	942.8 ± 26.1 (888; 988)	680–790	960–1000	720–880	670–700
AL	1802.6 ± 70.1 (1650; 1925)	2015.4 ± 67.8 (1925; 2131)	1500–1850	2140	1620–2000	1520–1580
HL/HW	1.077 ± 0.034 (1.033; 1.186)	0.993 ± 0.021 (0.962; 1.025)	-	-	-	-
FW/HW	0.457 ± 0.022 (0.429; 0.516)	0.349 ± 0.015 (0.326; 0.376)	0.41–0.49	0.35–0.39	0.39–0.46	0.45–0.46
FLW/FW	1.059 ± 0.015 (1.033; 1.091)	1.216 ± 0.042 (1.144; 1.274)	1.05–1.17	1.26–1.37	1.10–1.30	1.16–1.21
SL/HL	0.652 ± 0.025 (0.605; 0.690)	0.713 ± 0.021 (0.677; 0.754)	0.70–0.75	0.71–0.77	0.68–0.81	0.65–0.66
SL/HW	0.703 ± 0.024 (0.660; 0.746)	0.708 ± 0.022 (0.669; 0.747)	0.74–0.80	0.79–0.80	0.73–0.84	0.71–0.72
PL/PH	1.006 ± 0.066 (0.870; 1.110)	1.294 ± 0.069 (1.208; 1.421)	-	-	-	-
PPW/HW	0.759 ± 0.043 (0.700; 0.888)	0.462 ± 0.019 (0.434; 0.497)	0.62–0.69	0.60–0.61	0.57–0.72	0.56–0.57
ESL/HW	0.321 ± 0.0367 (0.258; 0.382)	0.286 ± 0.012 (0.259; 0.301)	0.35–0.41	0.30–0.35	0.24–0.36	0.18–0.23
ESD/ESL	1.977 ± 0.203 (1.594; 2.314)	1.471 ± 0.073 (1.341; 1.559)	-	-	-	-

Keys including this Species

See also the key to parasitic Myrmica of West Europe and North Africa based on queens and males.

Distribution

Garcia et al. (2024), Figure 11. Distribution of Iberian parasitic Myrmica records, including Myrmica babiensis. Red lines indicate limits of Spanish provinces. Legend of species in picture.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 42.7° to 42.143056°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Germany, Spain, Switzerland (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Flight Period

							X
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: antkeeping.info.

Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.

Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Castes

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

bibikoffi. Myrmica bibikoffi Kutter, 1963: 130, figs. 1-11 (w.q.m.) SWITZERLAND. See also: Kutter, 1973c: 255; Kutter, 1977c: 65; Radchenko & Elmes, 2003a: 227; Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 104.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Radchenko and Elmes (2003) - Workers (n=5): HL 1.10-1.28; HW 0.94-1.16; SL 0.82-1.04; AL 1.50-1.78 mm; FI 0.34-0.35; FLI 1.40-1.47; SIl 0.75-0.86; SI2 0.85-0.91; PPI 0.51-0.59; ESLI 0.36-0.43; queens (n=2): HL 1.24-1.40; HW 1.22-1.34; SL 0.96-1.00; AL 2.14 mm; FI 0.35-0.39; FLI 1.26-1.37; SI1 0.71-0.77; SI2 0.79-0.80; PPI 0.60-0.61; ESLI 0.30-0.35; males (n=5): HL 0.84-0.94; HW 0.80-0.87; SL 0.56-0.69; AL 1.78-1.86 mm; SI1 0.64-0.74; SI2 0.68-0.78; PPI 0.55-0.57; ESLI 0.07-0.20.

Etymology

Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - named for the collector Mr. Michel Bibikoff, a Russian émigré who studied entomology in Paris and was later famous for his work on training guide dogs.

References

Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
García, F., Arnal, J.M., Espadaler, X. 2008. Primeros registros de Myrmica bibikoffi Kutter, 1963 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en la Península Ibérica. Heteropterus Rev. Entomol. 8, 211–215.
García, F., Cuesta-Segura, A.D., Espadaler, X. 2024. Myrmica babiensis sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a new social parasite from the NW Iberian Peninsula. Annales Zoologici 74(1), 113-127 (doi:10.3161/00034541anz2024.74.1.006).
Jansen, G., Savolainen, R., Vepsäläinen, K. 2010. Phylogeny, divergence-time estimation, biogeography and social parasite–host relationships of the Holarctic ant genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 561, 294–304 (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.029).
Kutter, H. 1963a. Miscellanea myrmecologica I. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 35: 129-137 (page 130, figs. 1-11 worker, queen, male described)
Kutter, H. 1973d. Über die morphologischen Beziehungen der Gattung Myrmica zu ihren Satellitengenera Sifolinia Em., Symbiomyrma Arnoldi und Sommimyrma Menozzi (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 46: 253-268 (page 255, see also Kutter)
Kutter, H. 1977c. Hymenoptera, Formicidae. Insecta Helv. Fauna 6: 1-298 (page 65, see also Kutter)
Radchenko, A. G.; Elmes, G. W. 2003a. A taxonomic revision of the socially parasitic Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Palaearctic region. Ann. Zool. (Warsaw) 53: 217-243 (page 227, see also)
Radchenko, A.G. & Elmes, G.W. 2010. Myrmica ants of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3: 1-789.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

AntArea. Accessed on February 5th 2014 at http://antarea.fr/fourmi/
Antarea (at www.antarea.fr on June 11th 2017)
Blatrix R., C. Lebas, C. Galkowski, P. Wegnez, P. Pimenta, and D. Morichon. 2016. Vegetation cover and elevation drive diversity and composition of ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Mediterranean ecosystem. – Myrmecological News 22: 119-127.
Boer P. 2019. Species list of the Netherlands. Accessed on January 22 2019 at http://www.nlmieren.nl/websitepages/specieslist.html
Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Casevitz-Weulersse J., and C. Galkowski. 2009. Liste actualisee des Fourmis de France (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 114: 475-510.
Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
Espadaler, X. "Contribución al conocimiento de los formícidos (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) del Pirineo catalán." Tesis Universida (1979): 285 pp.
Lebas C., C. Galkowski, P. Wegnez, X. Espadaler, and R. Blatrix. 2015. The exceptional diversity of ants on mount Coronat (Pyrénées-Orientales), and Temnothorax gredosi(Hymenoptera, Formicidae) new to France. R.A.R.E., T. XXIV (1): 24 33
Lebas C., and C. Galkowski. 2016. Myrmica hirsuta Elmes, 1978, a new species from France (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Bull. Soc. Linn. Bordeaux 151, 44(2/3): 239-244.
Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 2003. A taxonomic revision of the socially parasitic Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Palaearctic region. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 53: 217-243.
Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 2010. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 790 pp.
Seifert B. 1988. A taxonomic revision of the Myrmica species of Europe, Asia Minor, and Caucasia (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Abhandlungen und Berichte des Naturkundemuseums Görlitz 62(3): 1-75.
Wegnez P. 2018. Premières decouvertes de Myrmica bibikoffi Kutter, 1963 et de Ponera testacea Emery, 1895, au Luxembourg (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)Bulletin de la Société royale belge d’Entomologie 154: 263–272.