family

FORMICIDAE

subfamily

Myrmicinae

genus

Myrmica


ITIS

 

Myrmica kotokui

Hymenoptera On-Line

 

Myrmica kotokui

FORMIS

 

Myrmica kotokui



species

Myrmica kotokui


Japanese Name

Shiwa-kushike-ari

Original Reference

Forel, A. (1911) Die Ameisen des K. Zoologischen Museums in Mźnchen. Sitzungsberichte der Kšniglich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse 1911: 249-303.

Synonym

Myrmica ruginodis var. kotokui Forel, 1911, Myrmica kotokui: Collingwood, 1976, Myrmica ruginodis kotokui: Onoyama, 1989,

Description

Total length of workers around 4 - 5.5 mm. Body color brown to blackish brown; legs lighter. Antennal scape gently curved near the base. Anterior margin of clypeus convex in the middle; the clypeal rugae projecting anteriorly to appear as denticles. Thoracic dorsum with strong rugae, many of them longitudinal. Rugae on posterior border of mesonotal dorsum raised. Propodeal spines usually long. Anterior base of 1st gastral tergite with longitudinal rugae.

Remarks

This species is not very different from the European M. ruginodis Nylander and perhaps properly conspecific. Onoyama (1989) suggested that it might best be considered a subspecies of ruginodis. Detailed study, including comparison with ruginodis specimens from the Far East, is required. Mizutani (1981) stated that the populations of dry riverbeds near Sapporo are polygynous, while those of mountainous regions are monogynous, and that reproductive methods and head width are different in these two areas. He recognized small-female "microgyna" and large-female "macrogyna" variants. Future study is clearly required (no relevant specimens are currently to hand).
This species nests under stones, in the soil, and in fallen rotting logs, etc. It is very common in cool regions. Winged reproductives fly from September to early October.

Distribution

Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Yaku I.; Sakhalin, Korean Peninsula.

References

  • Forel, A. (1911). Die Ameisen des K. Zoologichen Museums in Munchen. . Sitzb. Ak. Wiss. Munchen, 41, 249-303.
  • Collingwood, C. A. (1976). Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from North Korea. . Ann. Hist. Nat. Mus. Hung., 68, 295-309.
  • Onoyama, K. (1989). Confirmation of the occurrence of Myrmica rubra in Japan, with taxonomic and ecological notes (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). . Jpn. J. Ent., 57, 131-135.
  • Mizutani, A. (1981). On the two forms of the ant Myrmica ruginodis Nylander (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Sapporo and its vicinity, Japan. . Jpn. J. Ecol., 31, 131-137.

Editor

Original text by Keiichi Onoyama and Rikio Sonobe. English translation by Keiichi Onoyama, edited by Robert W. Taylor.