Report of New Species of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran in the Eastern half of Kurdistan

Document Type : (original research)

Authors

1 Department of Developmental-Biosystematic Sciences, Faculty of Modern Sciences and Technologies, Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Technologies, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Ants include more than 12000 species that belong to Formicidae family and Hymenoptera order. They are one of the most successful sociable insects, due to their ability to move a huge amount of soil, called them soil engineers. The members of this family have ecological, biological, and economical significant roles in the environment, thereby being applied as the biological indicators by researchers. Ants have special importance in biological pest control, disinfection, environmental indicators, etc. Sampling was performed during three seasons of spring‚ summer, and autumn from 10 stations in the eastern half of Kurdistan Province. The samples were detected in crawl tubes containing 70% alcohol in Shahid Beheshti laboratory by stereomicroscope and valid identification keys up to gender and species. The results of this study led us to identify five new species from two subfamilies Myrmicinae and Formicinae that are reported for the first time from Kurdistan Province in Iran.

Main Subjects

References

  1. HÖlldobler, B. and Wilson, E.O., 1990. The ants.1st. Harvard University press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 738 p.
  2. Bolton, B., 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
  3. Schultz, T.R., 2000. In search of ant ancestors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 97: 14028-14029.
  4. Engel, M.S. and Grimaldi, D.A., 2005. Primitive New Ants in Cretaceous Amber from Myanmar, New Jersey, and Canada (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). 1st. American Museum Novitates. New York. 3485 p.
  5. Reiskind, J., 1977. Ant-mimicry in Panamanian clubionid and salticid spiders (Araneae: Clubionidae, Salticidae, Clubionidae). Biotropica. 9: 1-8.
  6. Styrsky, J.D. and Eubanks, M.D., 2007. Ecological consequences of interactions between ants and honeydew-producing insects. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 274: 151-164.
  7. Folgarait, P.J., 1998. Ant biodiversity and its relationship to ecosystem functioning: a review. Biodiversity and Conservation. 7: 1221-1244.
  8. Aalipanah, H., Fonestic study of ants in Tehran region. Master's thesis, Faculty of Agriculture, Karaj, Tehran University. (In Persian)
  9. Paknia, A., 2012. Investigation of the fauna and geographic distribution of female stinging ants and their health importance in Lar city (Lar city). Master's thesis. Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University. (In Persian)
  10. Ghahari, H., Tabari, M., Rashidi, A. and Mohebbi, H., 2010. Investigation of fauna and population changes of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) that hunt pests in Mazandaran rice fields. Agroecology Journal. 6(19): 61-70. (In Persian)
  11. Hossein Nejad, S., 2013. Study of fauna and genetic diversity of ants in Zanjan and its suburbs. Master's thesis. Faculty of Science. Shahid Beheshti University. (In Persian)
  12. Parsa, S., 2013. Fonestic study of ants in the western half of Mazandaran province. Master's thesis, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Tehran Azad University, North Branch. (In Persian)
  13. Aram, A., 2013. Study of fauna and the dominant species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae in Ardabil province, Khalkhal city, Khoresh Rostam district. Master's thesis. Faculty of Biology, Azad University, Tehran Medical Department. (In Persian)
  14. Ghateai Kalashmi, M., 2014. A survey of fauna and genetic diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the northern part of Gilan province. Iran, Master's Thesis, Animal Biosystematics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University. (In Persian)
  15. Torabi, R., 2014. Study of fauna and genetic diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Shiraz city and suburbs, master's thesis, animal biosystematics, faculty of biological sciences, Shahid Beheshti University. (In Persian)
  16. Mohseni, M., 2016. Identification and study of biodiversity of ants (Hymenoptera: formicidae) in Qom province. Iran, Master's Thesis, Animal Biosystematics, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Azad University, Science and Research Branch. (In Persian)
  17. Ghahari, H. and Collingwood, C.A., 2013. A study on the ants (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Formicidae) from western Iran. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica. 48(1): 155-164.
  18. Ghahari, H., Sharaf, M.R., Aldawood, A.S. and Collingwood, C.A., 2015. A contribution to the study of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Eastern Iran. Contributions to Entomology (Beiträge zur Entomologie). 65(2): 341-359.
  19. Samin, N.; Yusupov, Z.; Navaeian, M. and Sakenin.H., 2020. A contribution to ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from North and Northwestern regions of Iran. Natura Somogyiensis. 35: 29-36.
  20. Barry, B., 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world.1st. Harvard University Press. 232Pp. USA.
  21. Blaimer, B.B., 2010. Taxonomy and natural history of the Crematogaster (Decacrema) group in Madagascar. Zootaxa, 2714: 1-39.
  22. William, and Brown, Jr., 2000. Ants: standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity.1st, Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington. 304 p.
  23. Hojjati, V., Paknia, A., Kami, H.Q. and Golmohammadi, M.P., 2008. Diversity of ant species in two steppe and desert regions of Damghan. Experimental Animal Biology. 1(2): 9-13. (In Persian)
  24. Moradlou, Sh., 2013. Study of fauna and the dominant species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae in the west of Zanjan province. Master's thesis. Faculty of Biology, Azad University, Tehran Medical Branch. (In Persian)
  25. Longino, J.T., 2003. The Crematogaster (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) of Costa Rica. Zoo taxa. 151:
    1-150.
  26. Paknia, O.; Radchenko, A. and Pfeiffer, M., 2010. New records of ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Asian Myrmecology. 3: 29-38.
  27. Siri, M., 2014. Study of fauna and abundance of ants in the southern half of Alborz mountain range. Master's Thesis, Animal Biosystematics, Faculty of Biology, Azad University, Tehran Medical Branch. (In Persian)
Journal of Animal Environment
Volume 14, Issue 1
Spring issue
May 2022
Pages 387-392

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics