Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915)

Lapeva-Gjonova, Albena, Csősz, Sándor & Mifsud, David, 2024, Further records of social parasitic ants in Europe and review of the Bulgarian species, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 123575-e 123575 : e123575-

Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: BFUS-I-AG 001995 ; recordedBy: M. Langourov; individualCount: 1; sex: queen; preparations: pinned; occurrenceID: D271AAA3-2B74-5B38-BC98-9D5F798A89A3; Taxon: scientificName: Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915) ; order: Hymenoptera ; family: Formicidae ; taxonRank: species; Location: country: Bulgaria; county: Blagoevgrad; municipality: Strumyani; locality: Struma Valley, near Kamenitsa vill. ; minimumElevationInMeters: 170; maximumElevationInMeters: 240; decimalLatitude: 41.650; decimalLongitude: 23.167; Event: samplingProtocol: soil traps; startDayOfYear: 07-09 - 2002; endDayOfYear: 27-09 - 2002; habitat: xerothermophilic site with Quercus coccifera L.; Record Level: collectionID: BFUS; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: BFUS-I-AG 001995 ; recordedBy: M. Langourov; individualCount: 1; sex: worker; preparations: pinned; occurrenceID: 39583CA7-6A53-55DC-8F37-7F1094C33064; Taxon: scientificName: Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915) ; order: Hymenoptera ; family: Formicidae ; taxonRank: species; Location: country: Bulgaria; county: Blagoevgrad; municipality: Strumyani; locality: Struma Valley, near Kamenitsa vill. ; minimumElevationInMeters: 170; maximumElevationInMeters: 240; decimalLatitude: 41.650; decimalLongitude: 23.167; Event: samplingProtocol: soil traps; startDayOfYear: 07-09 - 2002; endDayOfYear: 27-09 - 2002; habitat: xerothermophilic site with Quercus coccifera L.; Record Level: collectionID: BFUS; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Notes

Although the species was considered a degenerate slave-maker because of its very low worker number, Suefuji and Heinze (2015) suggest that it may be actively involved in slave raiding. Myrmoxenus kraussei has a Mediterranean distribution and prefers xerothermophilic habitats, where it most commonly uses Temnothorax recedens as a host ( Buschinger 1989, Tinaut et al. 2005). Only two records of M. kraussei were recently reported from Bulgaria (Vrachanska Mt.) ( Ljubomirov 2019). It is well distinguished by long, pointed setae (145-170 μm) on the body.