family

FORMICIDAE

subfamily

Myrmicinae

genus

Myrmica

ITIS
 

Myrmica kurokii

Hymenoptera On-Line
 

Myrmica kurokii

FORMIS
 

Myrmica kurokii



species

Myrmica kurokii
Japanese Name

Kuroki-kushike-ari
Original Reference

Forel, A. (1907) Formiciden aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum in Hamburg. Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissenschaftlichen Anstalten [Mitteilungen aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum] 24: 1-20.
Synonym

Myrmica rubra subsp. kurokii Forel, 1907e, Myrmica kurokii: Emery, 1908a,

Description

Total length of workers around 4.5 - 5.5 mm. Body bicolored: head, gaster and legs black, mesosoma reddish brown. Antennal scapes curved rather strongly near the base. Anterior margin of clypeus convex at the center, without projecting denticles. Pronotal dorsum with fine, irregular rugae; mesonotal dorsum with fine rugae, which are in many cases transverse; smooth, shining areas small. Petiolar node short; posterodorsal border in lateral view curving rather gently posteriorly. Subpetiolar process developed, projecting anteriorly.
Remarks

This species nests in grasslands, under stones at rocky sites, and near the roots of trees. Its altitudinal distribution is the most extreme among Japanese Myrmica species - it attains 1900 m or more above sea level in central Honshu (Morisita, 1945) and 1000 m or more on Hokkaido (Hayashida, 1971; Sonobe, 1981).
Distribution

Hokkaido, mountains of central Honshu; Sakhalin, Korean Peninsula.
References

  • Formiciden aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum in Hamburg. Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen Wissenschaftlichen Anstalten [Mitteilungen aus dem Naturhistorischen Museum] 24: 1-20.
  • Emery, C. 1908. BeitrŠge zur Monographie der Formiciden des palŠarktischen Faunengebietes. Dtsch. Entomol. Z., 1908: 165-205.
  • Morisita, M. (1945b. ). Ants. . In H. Furukawa ed.Natural history of Japan 5Insect 2, 1-56. .
  • Hayashida, K. (1971). Vertical distribution of ants in the southern part of the Hidaka Mountains. . Mem. Nat. Sci. Mus. Japan, (4), 29-38. .
  • Sonobe, R. (1981). Vertical distribution of ants. . Nature and Insects. , 16(3), 2-8. .

Editor

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