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ISSN0523 -7904 BOCAGIANA Museu Municipal do Funchal Madeira l.Vn.l993 No. 167 MYRMECINA GRAMINICOLA (LATR., 1802) (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICffiAE)INMADEIRA By X. ESPADALER* &M. BAEZ** SUMMARY.TwomalesofMyrmecinagraminicola(LATR., 1802)werefoundat Portela,Madeira.ThisantistobeaddedtothefifteenanttaxaknownfivmMadeira, thatisthesouthernmostlocalityforthisspecies. SUMArIO. Dois machos de Myrmecina graminicola foram encontrados na Portela,Madeira. Estaespeciedeformigaeacrescentadaaosquinzetaxadeformigas conhecidasparaa Madeira,queealocalidademaismeridionalparaestaespecie. OnlyfifteenanttaxaareknowntooccuronthearchipelagoofMadeira(WHEELER, 1927;WELLENIUS, 1949);thesmallnumberofantspeciesonoceanicislandsisawellknown phenomenon(TAYLOR&WILSON, 1961;WILS0N, 1973;HEINZE, 1986);anyadditionto the checklistisworthmention. DuringashortvisittotheIsland,oneoftheauthors(M.B.)gottwomalesofagenus neverreportedforthearchipelago:Afy/7wec/Magra/n/«/co/a(LATREILLE, 1802).Botfamales were captured by sweepingvegetationat 16hrs atapartiallycultivatedfieldnear alaurel forestatPortela, Madeira, the 27August, 1989. Thisisthe southernmostlocalityforthe species.MyrmecinaCURTIS, 1829hasits centerofdistributioninthe Orientalregion(EMERY, 1921; MANN, 1919, 1921; BROWN, 1973;ONOYAMA, 1980)withasingleAustralianspecies(TAYLOR&BROWN, 1985).The small graminicola group reaches Eurasia, North-America (BROWN, 1967; BERNARD, 1968)andMediterraneanAfiica(CAGNIANT, 1973).Thegenusseemstobeabsentfi'omthe Ethiopian region (BOLTON, 1973). Some 35 taxahave been described; the comments of BERNARD(1968)abouttwohundredspeciesseemwithoutfimdament.Thegenushasnever been subjectedto aformalrevision. •DepaitamentodeBiologiaAnimal,BiologiaVegetaledeEcologia.UniversidadeAutbnomadeBaicelona.08193Bellaterra(Spain) ••DepartamentodeZoologia.UniversidadedeLaLaguna.38206LaLaguna-Tenetife(Spain) : ::: :: Myrmecinagraminicola(LATR., 1802) andM sicula(ANDRE, 1882) arethetwo single european species but this last taxon, a Sicilian endemism, is probably a synonym (MENOZZI, 1936;BARONIURBANI, 1964).TypicalbiotopesforMgraminicolaarehumid placeswithadevelopedlayerofhumus.Thenestishypogaeousbutoccasionallyworkerscan be seen foraging among dead leaves (pers. obs.). Feeding habits seem to be variable: in northernEuropeitisascavengingant(COLLINGWOOD, 1979)anddoesnotmaintainnest aphids;accordingtoBERNARD(1968)itisnectarivorousandcanhavenestaphids;deador liveanimalfood,speciallyinsects,isthepreferedregimeasstatedbyDONISTHORPE(1927) butacceptsalsohoney.FOREL(1920)alsoobservedsomeworkerstakinghoneyinalabnest and mentions a single worker licking a decaying cat carcass. Swarming takes place from AugusttoOctoberinNorthEurope(COLLINGWOOD, 1979),fromAugusttoSeptemberin Switzerland (KUTTER, 1977) and Spain (pers. obs., X.E.). No data are known for North Africa. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported by a grant ("Estudios sobre invertebrados terrestres de Madeirae Canarias")fromthe UniversityofLaLaguna, Tenerifeto M. Baez. REFERENCES BARONIURBANI,C. 1964. StudisuUamirmecofaunad'ItaIia.II.FormichediSicilia.AttiAcademiaGioeniaScienze NaturalidiCatania. Ser.6(16):25-66. BERNARD, F. : 1968.Lesfourmis(Hymenoptera, Formicidae)d'Europeoccidentaleetseptentrionale. Masson. Paris,pp.411. BOLTON,B. 1973.TheantgeneraofWestAfrica:asynonymicsynopsiswithkeys(Hymenoptera: Formicidae). BulletinoftheBritishMuseumofnaturalHistory(Entomology), 27: 319-368. BROWN,W.L. 1973. StudiesonNorthAmericanants.II.Myrmecina. EntomologicalNews, 78: 233-240. BROWN,W.L. 1973.AcomparisonoftheHyleanandCongo-WestAfricanrainforestant&unas.In:Tropicalforest ecosystemsinAfricaandSouthAmerica:Acomparativereview: 161-185.(Meggers,B.J., Ayensu,E.S.&Duckwort,W.D.eds.). SmithsonianInstitutionPress.Washington. CAGNL\NT,H. 1973.Lespeuplementsdefourmisdesforetsalgeriennes.Ecologie. Biocenotique, essaibiologique.Ph.D.Thesis.UniversitePaulSabatier,Toulouse,pp.464. COLLINGWOOD, C.A. 1979.TheFormicidae(Hymenoptera)ofFennoscandiaandDenmark. FaunaEnt. Scandinavica,Vol. 6.pp. 174. :: :::: ; : : : : DONISTHORPE,H.J.K. & 1927.Britishant.GeorgeRouteledge Sons.London,pp.436. EMERY,C. 1921.Hymenoptera.Fam.Fomiicidae.Sub&m.Mynnicinae.In:GeneraInsectorum. Fasc. 174(Wytsman,p.ed.).Bmxelles. FOREL,A. 1920.LesfoumiisdelaSuisse.LeFlambeau.LaCahux-de-Fonds.pp.333. HEINZE, J. : 1986.Anewfindo{Paratrechinalongicomis(Latieille, 1802)ontheAzores (Hymenoptera,Formicidae).fiocag/flMa, 101: 1-3. KUTTER,H. 1977.Hymenoptera.Formicidae.InsectaHelvetica,6.Zurich,pp.289. MANN,M.M. 1919.TheantsoftheBritishSolomonIsland.BulletinoftheMuseumofComparative Zoology. 63:273-391. MENOZZI,C. 1936.Nuovicontributialiaconoscenzadellafaunadelleisoleitalianedell'Egeo.VI. Hymenoptera-Formicidae.BolletinodelLaboratoriodiZoologiaGeneralee AgrarindiPortici,29: 262-311. ONOYAMA,K. 1980.AnintroductiontotheantfeunaofJapan,withacheckUst(Hymenoptera, Formicidae).ATowO^,48: 193-212. TAYLOR,RW.&BROWM,D.R : 1985.Hymenoptera:Formicoidea.ZoologicalCatalogueofAustraUa,Vol.2: 1-149. AustraliaGov.Pub. Serv.Canberra. TAYLOR,R.W.&WILSON,E.O. 1961.Antsfi-omthreeremoteoceanicislands.Psyche,68: 137-144. WELLENIUS,OH. 1949.DieFormicidenvondenAzorenundMadeira.SocietasScientiarumFennica. CommentationesBiologicae,8(19): 1-4. WHEELER,W.M. 1927.TheantsoftheCanaryIslands.ProceedingsoftheAmericanAcademyofArtsand Sciences,62 93-210. . WILSON,E.O. 1973.TheantsofEasterIslandsandJuanFernandez.PacificInsects, 15 285-287. :