An updated checklist of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Bulgaria, after 130 years of research

Abstract

The Bulgarian myrmecofauna is one of the richest in the Balkans. This is a result of both the physicogeographical and paleoecological features of the area, as well as relatively well-studied fauna. The earliest myrmecological paper on Bulgarian fauna, listing 54 species, was published 130 years ago. The publication was later followed by numerous new faunistic records and three comprehensive reviews that significantly widened knowledge on the ant diversity from this country. The most recent checklist was released 12 years ago and considered 163 ant species from 40 genera. This work provides an updated checklist of 195 ant species from 43 genera occurring in Bulgaria. Since the last Bulgarian catalogue of ants, 44 species have been added, while 24 species have been synonymised or excluded after critical analysis of the last taxonomic revisions. Additionally, we discuss the status and distribution of 12 species described from Bulgaria, 23 species considered endemic and subendemic for this country, 19 species with conservation status and four non-native species.

Further records of social parasitic ants in Europe and review of the Bulgarian species

“…Currently, 42 out of the 197 ant species found in Bulgaria show traits of a parasitic lifestyle (Table 1 ). They belong to three of the six subfamilies in Bulgaria – Formicinae (25 species), Myrmicinae (15 species) and Dolichoderinae (2 species), although the species richness for the country is reversed in the first two subfamilies, with Formicinae having 73 species and Myrmicinae 107 species ( Lapeva-Gjonova and Antonova 2022 , Csősz et al 2023 ). Out of the 43 ant genera in Bulgaria, 14 contain species with a social parasitic lifestyle.…”

“…The only national initiative with a conservation approach in Bulgaria that includes socially parasitic ant species refers to the developed monitoring and assessment methodologies for only two of the species - Anergates atratulus and Polyergus rufescens (National System for Environmental Monitoring). An updated assessment of the conservation status of the regional myrmecofauna is needed to take into account both status and taxonomic changes ( Antonova and Marinov 2021 , Lapeva-Gjonova and Antonova 2022 ). Thus, potential candidates, such as Strongylognathus bulgaricus , S. huberi dalmaticus and Teleutomyrmex buschingeri , should be listed, as are their congeners.…”

“…The country’s climate is characterised by the mixed influences of a mild Mediterranean climate from the south and a continental climate from the north, resulting in cold and wet winters and dry and hot summers. In Bulgaria, even though the ant fauna is considered relatively well studied, with 197 species currently known ( Lapeva-Gjonova and Antonova 2022 , Csősz et al 2023 , Seifert et al 2024 ), there are few reports of permanent social parasitic ants and the discovery of new ones and data on their distribution are still ongoing.…”

Fungi Associated with Messor Ants on the Balkan Peninsula: First Biogeographical Data

“…Many species of Messor occur in the Balkans, and all of them prefer xerothermic biotopes. Despite unresolved taxonomic problems in some species groups, at least eight harvester ant species occur in the southeastern parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria, continental Greece, and the European part of Turkey), where more studies have been conducted [21,[25][26][27]. For now, four of the known Messor species in the region have been found to be parasitized by R. lenoirii.…”