Abstract
Simple SummaryAbundance is a hallmark of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). They are exceedingly common in both natural and artificial environments and they constitute a conspicuous part of the terrestrial ecosystem; every 3 to 4 out of 10 kg of insects are given by ants. Due to their key role in natural habitats, they are at the basis of any nature conservation and pest management policy. Thus, the first step in developing adequate management strategies is to build a precise faunistic inventory. More than 16,000 valid ant species are registered worldwide, of which 126 are known to occur in Hungary. Thanks to the last decade’s efforts in the Hungarian myrmecological research, and because of the constantly changing taxonomy of several problematic ant genera, a new checklist of the Hungarian ants is presented here. A comparison of the Hungarian myrmecofauna to other European countries’ ant fauna is also provided in this paper. The current dataset is a result of ongoing work on inventorying the Hungarian ant fauna, therefore it is expected to change over time and will be updated once the ongoing taxonomic projects are completed.Ants (Hymenoptera: Forimicidae) are exceedingly common in nature. They constitute a conspicuous part of the terrestrial animal biomass and are also considered common ecosystem engineers. Due to their key role in natural habitats, they are at the basis of any nature conservation policy. Thus, the first step in developing adequate conservation and management policies is to build a precise faunistic inventory. More than 16,000 valid ant species are registered worldwide, of which 126 are known to occur in Hungary. Thanks to the last decade’s efforts in the Hungarian myrmecological research, and because of the constantly changing taxonomy of several problematic ant genera, a new checklist of the Hungarian ants is presented here. The state of the Hungarian myrmecofauna is also discussed in the context of other European countries’ ant fauna. Six species (Formica lemani, Lasius nitidigaster, Tetramorium immigrans, T. staerckei, T. indocile and Temnothorax turcicus) have been reported for the first time in the Hungarian literature, nine taxon names were changed after systematic replacements, nomenclatorial act, or as a result of splitting formerly considered continuous populations into more taxa. Two species formerly believed to occur in Hungary are now excluded from the updated list. All names are nomenclaturally assessed, and complete synonymies applied in the Hungarian literature for a certain taxon are provided. Wherever it is not self-evident, comments are added, especially to explain replacements of taxon names. Finally, we present a brief descriptive comparison of the Hungarian myrmecofauna with the ant fauna of the surrounding countries. The current dataset is a result of ongoing work on inventorying the Hungarian ant fauna, therefore it is expected to change over time and will be updated once the ongoing taxonomic projects are completed.
Highlights
Faunistic papers and regional checklists are cornerstones of nature conservation.Without up-to-date faunistic information, it is almost impossible to formulate adequate conservation strategies for species or specific habitats [1,2,3]
The total number of species is 126 belonging to 33 genera, out of which six are new elements for the Hungarian fauna: Formica lemani, Lasius nitidigaster, Tetramorium immigrans, T. staerckei, T. indocile and Temnothorax turcicus have been identified after the last check-list [24]
Temnothorax rabaudi and Tetramorium impurum, are considered to be of uncertain occurrence, these species are excluded from the Hungarian myrmecofauna, as voucher specimens or recent investigations do not support their presence
Summary
Faunistic papers and regional checklists are cornerstones of nature conservation.Without up-to-date faunistic information, it is almost impossible to formulate adequate conservation strategies for species or specific habitats [1,2,3]. As a drastic decline in species number in the past decades is widely acknowledged [4,5], public interest for biodiversity is constantly growing, and there is an increasing demand for accurate faunistic information from non-academics. This is proven by the existence of numerous specific interest groups on social media bringing together specialists and amateurs alike. A periodical update of any checklist should be considered as almost mandatory for assisting conservation policies. In the frame of the current study, we offer an updated version of the Hungarian ant fauna with necessary corrections and additions due to novel findings in the past years
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