Myrmica dshungarica

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
dshungarica -group (see also Radchenko and Elmes 2001b). It is 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)

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.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.

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)

Nomenclature

 *  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.

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.