''Myrmica salina'' is a species of ant belonging to the genus ''

Myrmica ''Myrmica'' is a genus of ants within the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is widespread throughout the temperate regions of the Holarctic and high mountains in Southeast Asia. The genus consists of around 200 known species and additional subspecies, ...

''. They have a wide distribution in Europe and Siberia, as well as being abundant to several former republics of the Soviet Union, where their preferred habitats are relatively wet

halophyte A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. T ...

biotopes A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...

. Ruzsky first described the first specimen of the species in 1905.

Taxonomy

M. Ruzsky first described the first ''M. salina'' specimen in 1905.Ruzsky, M. 1905b. The ants of Russia. (Formicariae Imperii Rossici). Systematics, geography and data on the biology of Russian ants. Part I.

n Russian. N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Trudy Obshchestva Estestvoispytatelei pri Imperatorskom Kazanskom Universitete 38(4-6):1-800. 905128184 The taxonomic history for ''M. salina'' is complicated as the

type specimens In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

have been presumed to be lost, and the original description of the species was ambiguous. Since being described, the ant has three synonyms, being ''Myrmica scabrinodis ahngeri'', by Karavaiev in 1926, ''Myrmica georgica'' by Seifert in 1987, and more recently in 2004, with ''Myrmica tobiasi'' by Radchenko and Elmes.

Description

The appearance of ''M. salina'' is similar to that of the ants ''

Myrmica scabrinodis ''Myrmica scabrinodis'' is a Euro-Siberian species of ant. It lives in moderately humid habitats, tolerates soil moisture but also needs direct sunshine. It often inhabits peat bogs. It builds nests in the ground, in grass or moss tussocks, even ...

'', but in comparison to its other relative, '' Myrmica slovaca'', its appearance is much different. The description on the ''M. salina'' below is based on the original publications of Ruszky, as well as comments mentioned in Radchenko and Elmes' (2010) publication: The descriptions of ''M. slaina'' ants were based on worker, queen and males collected from various places in Siberia and Kazakhstan. Worker ants had an average length of 4.7–5 mm in length, with brownish-red colors, along with dark brown or blackish-brown head dorsum and first gastral segment. The antennae,

mandibles In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and animal locomotion, locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single ...

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex ...

and gaster are of a lighter color. Queens and males are of a same size, usually around 5–6 mm in length. The queen has similar features to the workers, with the exception of its color appearance much darker than its worker counterparts, as well as its antennal scape thickening in the middle.

Distribution

''Myrmica salina'' has been observed only in wet and damp habitats, usually seen foraging or even nesting in halophyte and biotope environments, in which these habitats were studied in

West Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region an ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Their type habitat is

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

, where they nest in soil and under rocks, in grass turf, mostly lasine soil. The distribution of ''M. salina'' is mainly in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

and

East Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

, where they are found in the European countries of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

(also found in the Asian part of Russia), while in Asia (notably countries of the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) they are found in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

Roland Schultz, Alexander Radchenko & Bernhard Seifert, 2006. A critical checklist of the ants of Kyrgyzstan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8: 201-207. and Kazakhstan.

Etymology

From

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

, ''salina'' is translated to "salt pan", or salted place derived from the Latin word ''salis'', which means salt. The name describes the ants type habitat "salted marsh". Radchenko, A. G.; Elmes, G. W. 2010. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 790 pp. 010-12-15/ref>

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q13870380 Myrmica Hymenoptera of Europe Insects of Asia Fauna of Georgia (country) Insects of Central Asia Fauna of Romania Insects of Russia Insects described in 1905