New data on the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Azerbaijan

Abstract

Ants of Azerbaijan are relatively poorly known compared to other parts of the Caucasus area and Europe. To improve the knowledge of the ant fauna, we performed field sampling in 2017, including different habitats extending throughout the country. We collected data on ants from 46 localities, and identified 73 species all together, of which 30 present new records for Azerbaijan, i.e.,

Aphaenogaster finzii Müller, 1921, a trans-Ionian species new to Italy (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

“…Aphaenogaster finzii ranges from Greece (including the Peloponnese) north to Croatia (where the northernmost records are from the Dinaric region, very close to the Italian territory -see Baroni Urbani 1971) through Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bračko 2006, Bračko et al 2014, Karaman 2011, Salata & Borowiec 2018, Petrov 2006, Vesnic & Skrijelj 2013. It is probably unrecorded in Albania only due to a lack of sufficient investigation.…”

Exotic Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Invading Mediterranean Europe: a Brief Summary over About 200 Years of Documented Introductions

“…The exotic ant fauna of Turkish Thrace (Kiran & Karaman, 2012), a relatively small region, only counts three species, all shared with neighboring Greece, with the exception of N. vividula, which is probably absent from Greece according to Salata et al, 2017. Only M. pharaonis, long regarded as the most ubiquitous household ant in the world (Wetterer, 2010), is known in Croatia (Bračko, 2006), Montenegro (Karaman, 2011) and Slovenia (Bračko, 2007). Marchal, 1917Bernard, 1968Paoli, 1920Schmitz, 1950Frisque, 1935 Monomorium bicolor Emery, 1877 Agosti & Collingwood, 1987 Monomorium carbonarium (Smith, F., 1858) Galkowski, 2008Collingwood & Prince, 1998Espadaler & Collingwood, 2000 Monomorium monomorium Bolton, 1987Forel, 1911 Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus, 1758)…”

“…Its invasion by the exotic Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr, 1868), one of the worst invasive aliens in the world according to Lowe et al (2000), attracted alone dozens of studies, making L. humile the single most-studied ant species of the entire region (e.g. Giraud et al, 2002;Espadaler & Gómez, 2003;Gómez et al, 2003;Rey & Espadaler, 2004;Blancafort & Gómez, 2005;2006;Carpintero et al, 2005;2014;Jacquiery et al, 2005;Oliveras et al, 2005a;2005b;Wetterer & Wetterer, 2006;Abril et al, 2007;2010;Blight et al, 2009;2010;2012;Roura Pascual et al, 2009a;2009b;2010;Pons et al, 2010;Estany-Tigerström et al, 2010;Abril & Gómez, 2011;Angulo et al, 2011;Diaz et al, 2014;Centorame et al, 2017;Queiroz & Alvez, 2018). Displacement of native ants and significant changes in the native ant communities are among the most commonly documented consequences of ant invasions, but in many cases notable effects have been also reported in regard to other invertebrates, vertebrates and plants (Holldöbler & Wilson, 1990;Holway et al, 2002;Lach et al, 2010).…”

First record of Lasius illyricus Zimmermann, 1935 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Armenia

“…This new record extends the species range within the Eastern part of its distribution range. Comments made by Seifert (1992) and Bračko (2019) suggest that all past records of L. emarginatus from Transcaucasia may indeed represent L. illyricus instead and future investigations should establish whether its range extends further East (e.g. to the Caspian Sea, see Vigna Taglianti et al, 1999).…”

“…As a result of this confused taxonomic history and only recent recognition, L. illyricus distribution range, which at least partly overlaps with the similar L. emarginatus (Borowiec & Salata, 2013;Seifert, 2018), still requires much investigation. The species is currently known to inhabit Austria (an isolated and unexplained population near Wien), Azerbaijan, the Crimean Peninsula, Croatia (its terra typica), Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia (Borowiec & Salata, 2013;Seifert, 2018;Bračko, 2019). Unpublished data also testify its presence in Turkey (Kiran & Karaman, in press).…”