Myrmecina graminicola (Latr., 1802) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Madeira.

3 Pages·1993·0.09 MB·English

by  Espadaler, X.

ISSN0523 -7904
BOCAGIANA
Museu Municipal do Funchal
Madeira l.Vn.l993 No. 167
MYRMECINA GRAMINICOLA (LATR., 1802)
(HYMENOPTERA, FORMICffiAE)INMADEIRA
By X. ESPADALER* &M. BAEZ**
SUMMARY.TwomalesofMyrmecinagraminicola(LATR., 1802)werefoundat
Portela,Madeira.ThisantistobeaddedtothefifteenanttaxaknownfivmMadeira,
thatisthesouthernmostlocalityforthisspecies.
SUMArIO. Dois machos de Myrmecina graminicola foram encontrados na
Portela,Madeira. Estaespeciedeformigaeacrescentadaaosquinzetaxadeformigas
conhecidasparaa Madeira,queealocalidademaismeridionalparaestaespecie.
OnlyfifteenanttaxaareknowntooccuronthearchipelagoofMadeira(WHEELER,
1927;WELLENIUS, 1949);thesmallnumberofantspeciesonoceanicislandsisawellknown
phenomenon(TAYLOR&WILSON, 1961;WILS0N, 1973;HEINZE, 1986);anyadditionto
the checklistisworthmention.
DuringashortvisittotheIsland,oneoftheauthors(M.B.)gottwomalesofagenus
neverreportedforthearchipelago:Afy/7wec/Magra/n/«/co/a(LATREILLE, 1802).Botfamales
were captured by sweepingvegetationat 16hrs atapartiallycultivatedfieldnear alaurel
forestatPortela, Madeira, the 27August, 1989.
Thisisthe southernmostlocalityforthe species.MyrmecinaCURTIS, 1829hasits
centerofdistributioninthe Orientalregion(EMERY, 1921; MANN, 1919, 1921; BROWN,
1973;ONOYAMA, 1980)withasingleAustralianspecies(TAYLOR&BROWN, 1985).The
small graminicola group reaches Eurasia, North-America (BROWN, 1967; BERNARD,
1968)andMediterraneanAfiica(CAGNIANT, 1973).Thegenusseemstobeabsentfi'omthe
Ethiopian region (BOLTON, 1973). Some 35 taxahave been described; the comments of
BERNARD(1968)abouttwohundredspeciesseemwithoutfimdament.Thegenushasnever
been subjectedto aformalrevision.
•DepaitamentodeBiologiaAnimal,BiologiaVegetaledeEcologia.UniversidadeAutbnomadeBaicelona.08193Bellaterra(Spain)
••DepartamentodeZoologia.UniversidadedeLaLaguna.38206LaLaguna-Tenetife(Spain)
: ::: ::
Myrmecinagraminicola(LATR., 1802) andM sicula(ANDRE, 1882) arethetwo
single european species but this last taxon, a Sicilian endemism, is probably a synonym
(MENOZZI, 1936;BARONIURBANI, 1964).TypicalbiotopesforMgraminicolaarehumid
placeswithadevelopedlayerofhumus.Thenestishypogaeousbutoccasionallyworkerscan
be seen foraging among dead leaves (pers. obs.). Feeding habits seem to be variable: in
northernEuropeitisascavengingant(COLLINGWOOD, 1979)anddoesnotmaintainnest
aphids;accordingtoBERNARD(1968)itisnectarivorousandcanhavenestaphids;deador
liveanimalfood,speciallyinsects,isthepreferedregimeasstatedbyDONISTHORPE(1927)
butacceptsalsohoney.FOREL(1920)alsoobservedsomeworkerstakinghoneyinalabnest
and mentions a single worker licking a decaying cat carcass. Swarming takes place from
AugusttoOctoberinNorthEurope(COLLINGWOOD, 1979),fromAugusttoSeptemberin
Switzerland (KUTTER, 1977) and Spain (pers. obs., X.E.). No data are known for North
Africa.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by a grant ("Estudios sobre invertebrados terrestres de
Madeirae Canarias")fromthe UniversityofLaLaguna, Tenerifeto M. Baez.
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