Strongylognathus kratochvili

On the south-facing steppe slopes of the type locality near Mohelno, this species is preferentially found in patches with sparse vegetation cover and soil with mixed fine rubble. Patches without vegetation or with a dense grass cover are avoided. Hosts of this slave-making species, which is thought to be degenerate and tolerant of host queens, include and.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Bulgaria, Czech Republic.

Nomenclature

 * . Strongylognathus kratochvili Šilhavý, 1937: 5, 6 figs. (w.q.) CZECH REPUBLIC.
 * Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queen(s) (numbers not stated).
 * Type-locality: Czech Republic: Moravia, nr Mohelno, 21.iii.1936 (V. Šilhavý).
 * Type-depository: NHMP (perhaps also in MMBC).
 * Status as species: Novák & Sadil, 1941: 87 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 395; Lapeva-Gjonova, et al. 2010: 30; Borowiec, L. 2014: 164; Lebas, et al. 2016: 338; Seifert, 2018: 239; Werner, et al. 2018: 7.
 * Synonym of bulgaricus: Pisarski, 1966: 515; Kutter, 1968b: 205; Bolton, 1976: 306.
 * [Note: Pisarski, Kutter, and Bolton give bulgaricus as senior synonym, but kratochvili has priority (Bolton, 1995b: 395).]
 * Distribution: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia.

Type Material
Bezděčková et al. (2017) - Holotype and four paratypes are deposited in (all dry-mounted, glued on rectangular card labels).
 * HOLOTYPE (worker, enclosed in a small glass vial (35 × 8 mm) stored inside a larger glass vial (50 × 20 mm) marked lengthwise by red tape): ‘Strongylognathus kratochvili Šilh. / Holotypus [worker symbol] – Mohelno [hw] // Strongylognathus / kratochvili Šilhavý [hw] / Holotypus [worker symbol] / 11141 [hw] -/- ČSSR / Mohelno – hadcová step /21. III. 1936 / V. Šilhavý leg. et det. [hw] ’ [IN: E26-T5].
 * PARATYPES (1 alate queen 1 dalate queen, each glued on a small rectangular label and all together on one larger card label ca. 40 × 16 mm): ‘Strongylognathus / Kratochvili Šilh. / Typ  [hw] -/- 0339 [hw] // Strongylognathus  / Kratochvili Šilh. / Mohelno 31. 3. 1936 [hw]’, [IN: E26-T6, E26-T7].
 * PARATYPES (2 workers, each glued on a small rectangular label and all together on one larger card label ca. 40 × 16 mm): ‘Strongylognathus / Kratochvili Šilh. / Paratypy [hw]’, [IN: E26-T8, E26-T9].

Remarks. In the Czech part of the original description, ŠILHAVÝ (1937: 7) stated that he collected a few specimens of workers of S. kratochvili on 31 March 1936. However, in the French summary (p. 10), he indicated 21 March 1936 as the collecting date which also corresponds to the date on the label of the holotype. The female paratypes were collected, according to the original description (p. 7), in June 1936, which differs from 31. 3. 1936 on their label. These discrepancies probably arose as a result of mistake during labelling of the female paratypes.

One additional worker labelled as a paratype is stored in which is not considered to be a part of the type series due to year of the collection being after the description of the species (1945).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bezdeckova K., P. Bexdecka, J. Macek, and I. Malenovsky. 2017. Catalogue of type specimens of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) deposited in Czech museums. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 57(1): 295-308.
 * Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
 * 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
 * Pisarski B. 1966. Études sur les fourmis du genre Strongylognathus Mayr. Annales Zoologici, Warszawa. 23: 509-523.
 * Silhavy V. 1937. Strongylognathus kratochvili n. sp., novy preaglacialni mravenec z Moravy. Sb. Prírodoved. Klubu Trebici 1: 5-12.