Myrmica dshungarica

Myrmica dshungarica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Myrmicini
Genus:	Myrmica
Species:	M. dshungarica
Binomial name
	Myrmica dshungarica; Ruzsky, 1905 Specimen Label
Synonyms
	Leptothorax svartshevskii Karavaiev, 1916; Myrmica laevinodis minuta Ruzsky, 1905; Myrmica minuta iskanderi Arnol'di, 1976; Myrmica minuta tarbinskii Arnol'di, 1976; Myrmica rugulosa ruginodiformis Karavaiev, 1929;

Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - M. dshungarica predominately inhabits the mountain fir-forest belt at altitudes 1600-3000m, or even up to 3600m (in Alaj and Pamir), where it is quite common. It seems to be an hygrophilous species, living mainly in quite wet or even damp places near rivers and streams, and often penetrating along river valleys at lower altitudes below the fir-forest vegetation belt. In subalpine meadows, where environmental conditions are generally more humid than in fir forests, it lives far from water, nesting in soil under stones. Alate gynes and males emerged in July-August, nuptial flight in August-September.

Identification

A member of the dshungarica group. Similar to, and often hard to distinguish from several sympatric Myrmica species, e.g. Myrmica juglandeti and Myrmica ferganensis, but differs from them by its shorter and somewhat higher petiole, distinctly convex side of head, etc. (Radchenko and Elmes 2010)

Keys including this Species

Key to Myrmica of the Middle Asian Mountains

Distribution

Mountain ranges of Dzhungarian Alatau, Tien-Shan and Pamiro-Alaj on the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 42.65° to 41.508577°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Kazakhstan (type locality), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.

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

M. dshungarica appears to be a widely distributed species in the mountains of Middle Asia that is fragmented into many isolated populations. Commonly in such mountain regions isolated populations evolve small morphological variations, in the case of M. dshungarica these are not yet sufficiently different to consider any population as separate subspecies. (Radchenko and Elmes 2010)

Castes

Nomenclature

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

dshungarica. Myrmica rugosa subsp. dshungarica Ruzsky, 1905b: 661 (w.) KAZAKHSTAN. Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927e: 191 (q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1953a: 123 (l.). Subspecies of smythiesii: Emery, 1908a: 169; Weber, 1947: 458. Raised to species: Arnol'di, 1976a: 551; Tarbinsky, 1976: 29; Radchenko, 1994c: 137 (in key). Senior synonym of ruginodiformis: Arnol'di, 1976a: 551; of iskanderi, minuta, svartshevskii (misspelled as swartschewskii), tarbinskii: Radchenko, 1994f: 73. Material of the unavailable names brevispina, infuscata referred here by Tarbinsky, 1976: 29; material of the unavailable names dentata, subacuta referred here by Radchenko, 1994f: 73. See also: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 124.
minuta. Myrmica laevinodis var. minuta Ruzsky, 1905b: 670 (w.) TAJIKISTAN. [Unresolved junior primary homonym of minuta Say, 1836: 294, above.] Raised to species: Arnol'di, 1976a: 548. Junior synonym of dshungarica: Radchenko, 1994f: 73.
svartshevskii. Leptothorax svartshevskii Karavaiev, 1916: 500, fig. 2 (w.q.) RUSSIA. Junior synonym of dshungarica: Radchenko, 1994f: 73.
ruginodiformis. Myrmica rugulosa var. ruginodiformis Karavaiev, 1929b: 204 (w.q.m.) KYRGHYZSTAN. Junior synonym of dshungarica: Arnol'di, 1976a: 551.
iskanderi. Myrmica minuta subsp. iskanderi Arnol'di, 1976a: 548, fig. 2 (w.q.m.) TAJIKISTAN. Junior synonym of dshungarica: Radchenko, 1994f: 73
tarbinskii. Myrmica minuta subsp. tarbinskii Arnol'di, 1976a: 549 (w.) KYRGHYZSTAN. Junior synonym of dshungarica: Radchenko, 1994f: 73.

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

Description

Etymology

Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - M. dshungarica: named from Dshungaria with the adjectival suffix for nouns ica = belonging to, to indicate that the type specimens were taken in the Dshungarian Alatau (mountains) of eastern Kazakhstan. Modern Dshungaria (Dzhungaria) is a region lying mostly within Xinjiang province of northeast China and extending into western Mongolia and eastern Kazakhstan.

References

Arnol'di, K. V. 1976a. Ants of the genus Myrmica Latr. from Central Asia and the southern Kazakstan. Zool. Zh. 55: 547-558. (page 551, Raised to species, Senior synonym of ruginodiformis)
Emery, C. 1908a. Beiträge zur Monographie der Formiciden des paläarktischen Faunengebietes. Dtsch. Entomol. Z. 1908: 165-205 (page 169, Subspecies of smythiesii)
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).
Radchenko, A. G. 1994d. Identification table for ants of the genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from central and eastern Palearctic. Zool. Zh. 73(7-8 8: 130-145 (page 137, Raised to species (in key))
Radchenko, A.G. & Elmes, G.W. 2010. Myrmica ants of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3: 1-789.
Radchenko, A.G., Fisher, B.L., Esteves, F.A., Martynova, E.V., Bazhenova, T.N., Lasarenko, S.N. 2023. Ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the collection of Volodymyr Opanasovych Karawajew. Communication 1. Dorylinae, Poneromorpha and Pseudomyrmecinae. Zootaxa, 5244(1), 1–32 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5244.1.1).
Ruzsky, M. 1905b. The ants of Russia. (Formicariae Imperii Rossici). Systematics, geography and data on the biology of Russian ants. Part I. Tr. Obshch. Estestvoispyt. Imp. Kazan. Univ. 38(4-6 6: 1-800 (page 661, worker described)
Tarbinsky, Y.S. 1976. The ants of Kirghizia. Frunze: Ilim, 217 pp. (page 29, Material of the unavailable names brevispina and infuscata referred here by Tarbinsky.)
Tarbinsky, Y.S. 1976. The ants of Kirghizia. Frunze: Ilim, 217 pp. (page 29, Raised to species)
Weber, N. A. 1947b. A revision of the North American ants of the genus Myrmica Latreille with a synopsis of the Palearctic species. I. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 40: 437-474 (page 459, queen, male described, page 458, Subspecies of smythiesii)
Wheeler, G. C.; Wheeler, J. 1953a [1952]. The ant larvae of the myrmicine tribe Myrmicini. Psyche (Camb.) 59: 105-125 (page 123, larva described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
Jansen G., R. Savolainen, K. Vespalainen. 2010. Phylogeny, divergence-time estimation, biogeography and social parasite–host relationships of the Holarctic ant genusMyrmica(Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56: 294-304.
Marikovsky P. I. 1979. Ants of the Semireche Desert. [In Russian.]. Alma Ata: Nauka, 263 pp.
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.
Schultz, R., A. G. Radchenko, and B. Seifert. "A critical checklist of the ants of Kyrgyzstan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8 (2006): 201-207.
Weber N. A. 1947. A revision of the North American ants of the genus Myrmica Latreille with a synopsis of the Palearctic species. I. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 40: 437-474.