Rossomyrmex

Ants of the genus Rossomyrmex Arnoldi, 1928 are slave-makers that invade nests of genus Proformica Ruszky, 1903 to steal brood that will grow-up as slaves (Marikovsky, 1974; Ruano & Tinaut, 1999). This genus was first described from the Caucasian steppes by Arnoldi in 1928 (Arnoldi,1928, 1932) with the species R. proformicarum. No further information on this genus appeared for 40 years, until 1974, when the biology of this species was studied by Marikovsky (Marikovsky, 1974) in the Tian-Shan slopes, near Almaty (Kazakhstan). In 1981 (Tinaut, 1981) workers and females of a new species of this genus were described: R. minuchae, found in Sierra Nevada (Granada, Spain) many kilometers away from the Central Asian steppes, the only place where the genus was known until then. The third species of the genus, R. quandratinodum Xia and Zheng 1995, was described in the Chinese region of Urumchi (Xinjiang) (Xia & Zheng, 1995), located in the western part of China and corresponding to a small region between Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Nomenclature

 *  ROSSOMYRMEX [Formicinae: Formicini]
 * Rossomyrmex Arnol'di, 1928c: 299. Type-species: Rossomyrmex proformicarum, by original designation.