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Myrmica aloba (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) hosts isolated populations of a hoverfly, a butterfly and an ichneumon species in NE-Portugal

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Abstract

Larvae and pupae of the obligately myrmecophilous social parasites Microdon myrmicae (Diptera: Syrphidae) and Maculinea alcon (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) were found using exclusively Myrmica aloba (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) host ants in NE-Portugal. Ichneumon eumerus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) was also found developing in Ma. alcon pupae in nests of My. aloba at the same site. These are the first records of Mi. myrmicae and I. eumerus for Portugal, and from My. aloba nests. Earlier records that My. aloba is the only known host ant of Ma. alcon in Portugal are confirmed. Further studies on the biology of these isolated peripheral populations are necessary for their well-planned protection.

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Notes

  1. Based on formal taxonomic priority, it has been suggested that the generic name Phengaris Doherty, 1891 should replace Maculinea (see e.g. Fric et al. 2007; Pech et al. 2007). However, the case is still undecided by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 2012) and strong arguments for the precedence of Maculinea over Phengaris have been made (Balletto et al. 2010, and Comments on this Case). Hence we continue to use Maculinea as the accepted generic name of these butterflies.

  2. As names of three genera (Maculinea, Microdon and Myrmica) mentioned frequently in this paper start with “M”, these are abbreviated with the first two characters for the easier readability.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Simona Bonelli and Klaus Horstmann for confirmation of our determination, and to Xavier Espadaler, David R. Nash, Enikő Tóth and to the three anonymous referees for revising the manuscript. We thank the National Park of Alvão for all their help, and the locals of Lamas de Olo for letting us work on their meadows. The research was supported in part by CITAB, and by funding from the Portuguese Government through the ON.2/QREN PROGRAMM by the projects PROTEGER É CONHECER and SEIVACORGO. AT was supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship and partly by a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant within the 7th European Community Framework Programme, and partly by a ‘Bolyai János’ scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032, Debrecen, Hungary

    András Tartally

  2. Department of Biology, Centre for Social Evolution, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    András Tartally

  3. Department of Forest Science and Landscape, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801, Vila Real, Portugal

    Maria Conceição Rodrigues & Paula Seixas Arnaldo

  4. Center of the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5001-801, Vila Real, Portugal

    Maria Conceição Rodrigues & Paula Seixas Arnaldo

  5. Luciastraat 7, 5821CL, Vierlingsbeek, The Netherlands

    Peter Brakels

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  1. András Tartally
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  2. Maria Conceição Rodrigues
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Correspondence to András Tartally.

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Tartally, A., Rodrigues, M.C., Brakels, P. et al. Myrmica aloba (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) hosts isolated populations of a hoverfly, a butterfly and an ichneumon species in NE-Portugal. J Insect Conserv 17, 851–855 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-013-9575-7

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