Myrmica rugulosa Nylander

Collingwood, C. A., 1979, The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark., Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 8, pp. 1-174 : 54

7. Myrmica rugulosa Nylander , 1849

Figs. 3,29, 35,47,61.

Myrmica rugulosa Nylander , 1849:32.

Worker. Pale reddish yellow with dilute sculpture. Head distinctly longer than broad; petiole narrowly rectangular from above, simply angled in side view with very short truncate dorsal area. Antennal scapes sharply but evenly bent near base, without trace of an angular projection or process. Frontal triangle mostly smooth but partly striate at apex in Fennoscandian samples. Head Index: 80.2; Frons Index: 52.7; Frontal Laminae Index: 95.4. Length: 3.0-4.3 mm. Queen. As worker. Length: 4.8-5.2 mm.

Male. With short antennal scapes; the area between the notauli is smooth and shining without trace of sculpture. In profile the anterior and posterior faces of the petiole meet at a near right angle without a dorsal dome or truncation. The hairs on the extensor surface of the hind tarsi are distinctly longer than those on the underside. Length: 4.0-4.8 mm.

Distribution. Local in South and Central Sweden, Denmark and South Finland. Not recorded from Norway or British Isles. - Range: Central Europe from Pyrenees to Siberia and Italy to Central Sweden.

This is a small slender species, in Scandinavia found locally nesting in lowland sandy heath or open pasture frequently near the coast, but more generally distributed in Europe ascending to 1000 m in the Central Pyrenees. The nests are deep in the ground with circular crater like openings to the outside. The species is polygynous and a single colony may contain many thousands of workers. These tend to forage in files unlike most other Myrmica species which forage singly.