Asian Myrmecology, Volume 3, Ecology and Distribution
New records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran
OMID PAKNIA 1, ALEXANDER RADCHENKO 2 AND MARTIN PFEIFFER 1
1 University of Ulm, Institute for Experimental Ecology, Albert Einstein Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany,
2 Museum and Institute of Zoology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza str. 64, 00-679, Warsaw, Poland
Abstract: The ant species list of Iran is far from complete. So far, only 110 species belonging to 26 genera have been recorded from Iran. For this study, we collected the majority of ant material in two periods of field work in spring and summer of 2007 and 2008. In total, we checked more than 35,000 specimens, and recorded 32 species and six genera new to Iran: Dolichoderus, Myrmecina, Proformica, Pyramica, Stenamma and Strongylognathus. Our new records from the Central Persian desert basins indicate that the ant fauna of this region probably has more species in common with that of the Central Asian deserts than with the hot subtropical deserts of the Middle East and Arabian Peninsula.
Keywords: ants, faunistic, Dolichoderus, Myrmecina, Proformica, Pyramica,
Stenamma, Strongylognathus, Iran