Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Sarnena Sredna Gora Mountains (Bulgaria)

Abstract

A list of 61 ant species from the Sarnena Sredna Gora Mountains (Bulgaria), based on 32 studied localities is provided. Two morphospecies from each of the Messor semirufus group and Tetramorium caespitum complex were also found. There have been only two species – Stigmatomma denticulatum Roger, 1859 and Formica pratensis Retzius, 1783 reported so far from the region, the latter confirmed here. The ant species found in this survey belong to three zoogeographical classes as Euro-Caucasian and Mediterranean zoogeographical elements prevail. Despite the significant increase in the number of recorded species, we expect that their number should be higher in a long-term study.

Keywords

• faunistic data
• new records
• insect fauna
• bulgaria