Kadri Kiran

The Evolution of Invasiveness in Garden Ants

It is unclear why some species become successful invaders whilst others fail, and whether invasive success depends on pre-adaptations already present in the native range or on characters evolving de-novo after introduction. Ants are among the worst invasive pests, with Lasius neglectus and its rapid spread through Europe and Asia as the most recent example of a pest ant that may become a global problem. Here, we present the first integrated study on behavior, morphology, population genetics, chemical recognition and parasite load of L. neglectus and its non-invasive sister species L. turcicus. We find that L. neglectus expresses the same supercolonial syndrome as other invasive ants, a social system that is characterized by mating without dispersal and large networks of cooperating nests rather than smaller mutually hostile colonies. We conclude that the invasive success of L. neglectus relies on a combination of parasite-release following introduction and pre-adaptations in mating system, body-size, queen number and recognition efficiency that evolved long before introduction. Our results challenge the notion that supercolonial organization is an inevitable consequence of low genetic variation for chemical recognition cues in small invasive founder populations. We infer that low variation and limited volatility in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles already existed in the native range in combination with low dispersal and a highly viscous population structure. Human transport to relatively disturbed urban areas thus became the decisive factor to induce parasite release, a well established general promoter of invasiveness in non-social animals and plants, but understudied in invasive social insects.

Three new species of ants (genus Aphaenogaster, Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Turkey

Three new species of the ant genus Aphaenogaster (A. aktaci sp. n., A. maculifrons sp. n., A. radchenkoi sp. n.) are described from Turkey and their taxonomic positions are discussed. Aphaenogaster aktaci sp. n. belongs to the obsidiana group, A. maculifrons sp. n. to subterranea group and A. radchenkoi sp. n. to pallida group of the Attomyrma subgenus. Key characteristics for identification of the species and data on their ecology are given.

Long-term effects of fire on ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Pinus brutia forests of south-western Turkey

We studied how forest fire affects the structure of ant communities in the long term and how microhabitat variables that influence communities of ants in different succession stages change. For this purpose, we selected five sites burnt 3 to 26 years prior to the study and a control site unburnt for at least 50 years. Sampling of ants was conducted in four pit-fall traps in four transects in three replication plots at every successional site and in two plots at the control site. Microhabitat variables regarding the vegetation structure and litter layers were recorded and related to the abundances of ants. The results show that subshrubs, leaves, and needles were the most important microhabitat variables that affected the ant communities. In certain ant genera, significant changes depending upon successional gradient were determined. While the genera Aphaenogaster and Cataglyphis had non-linear relationships with successional gradient, negative linear relationships were found in Crematogaster and Prenolepis. Messor is the only genus caught in high numbers in the earliest successional stage. It showed a decrease with successional gradient. Significant changes in ant communities along the successional gradient were associated with the characteristics of vegetation and the litter layer.

NEW TRAMP ANT SPECIES FOR TURKEY: Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Human activities such as tourism, developed transportation and increased trade lead to the introduction of faunal elements into non-native habitats and consequently affect native fauna. These introduced species are called as non-native, exotic, invasive or tramp species. Here we record the well-known tramp species Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr, for the first time from Turkey (Antalya-Alanya), and present first locality records for Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) from Antalya-Alanya and Adana. Thus, the number of tramp ant species of Turkey is increased to 19.

Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Greek Thrace

The ant fauna of Greece has been an object of investigations for almost two centuries, but most of the contributions were restricted to particular parts or regions of the country. The first comprehensive checklist, comprising the past studies on Greek ants, was done only recently by Legakis (2011). In the last few years, the ant fauna of Greece was more intensively studied as part of the inventory of the ants of the Mediterranean region (Borowiec and Salata 2012, Borowiec and Salata 2013, Borowiec and Salata 2014b, Borowiec and Salata 2014a, Salata and Borowiec 2015a, Salata and Borowiec 2015b, Salata and Borowiec 2015c). Based on the above mentioned studies, it turned out that the Greek ant fauna is probably the richest in Europe, with about 280 recorded species including almost 20 endemic to this country. Among the geographic regions of Greece, Macedonia has richest ant fauna with at least 158 species recorded, followed by Dodecanese (111), Ionian Islands (107), East Aegean Islands (106), Peloponnese (102), Crete (98), Sterea Ellas (72), Thessaly (67), Cyclades (46), and Epirus (42) respectively (Borowiec & Salata unpublished data). The ants of Greek Thrace have been more or less neglected so far. This region has not been studied in recent years, while older data are very scarce. As a result, only 12 species were mentioned from this region (Legakis 2011). Greek Thrace (or Western Thrace) is one of the geographic and historical regions of Greece. It is the eastern-most mainland part of the country, bordered by Greek Macedonia to the west, Bulgaria to the north (the southern part of Bulgaria is also known as the Bulgarian or Northern Thrace), Turkish (or Eastern) Thrace to the east and the Aegean Sea to the south. Most of the northern part of Greek Thrace is occupied by the Rhodope Mountains. Larger plains are situated especially in the south-western, central and north-eastern part of the region. A Mediterranean climate prevails in the southern part of Thrace and is modified by continental influences in the Rhodope Mountains (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2015). To improve the knowledge on Thracian ants, we conducted two field trips, in spring 2014 and in summer 2015, and included some previously collected unpublished material. Altogether, we compiled the samples from more than 70 localities throughout the region. As a result we present a check-list of all ant species recorded so far in Greek Thrace with comments on the taxonomy and distribution of poorly known or unnamed species.

Unusual Ant Hosts of the Socially Parasitic Ant Anergates atratulus (Schenck, 1852) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

The extreme inquiline ant Anergates atratulus (Schenck, 1852) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) was collected in ant nests of Tetramorium moravicum Kratochvil, 1941 in Bulgaria and of T. chefketi Forel, 1911 in Bulgaria and Turkey. The reported ant hosts belong to the Tetramorium chefketi species complex in contrast with the typical hosts from Tetramorium caespitum/impurum complex. This finding confirms the assumption that a broader range of host species for the socially parasitic species A. atratulus may be expected. Present data on the new host species expand knowledge about biology of this rare ant species, included in the IUCN Red List of threatened species.