Strongylognathus kratochvili

Strongylognathus kratochvili
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Strongylognathus
Species group:	christophi
Species:	S. kratochvili
Binomial name
Strongylognathus kratochvili Silhavy, 1937 Specimen Labels

On the south-facing steppe slopes of the type locality near Mohelno, this species is preferentially found in patches with sparse vegetation cover and soil with mixed fine rubble. Patches without vegetation or with a dense grass cover are avoided. Hosts of this slave-making species, which is thought to be degenerate and tolerant of host queens, include Tetramorium caespitum and Tetramorium moravicum.

At a Glance

• Dulotic

Distribution

Strongylognathus kratochvili is restricted to Czech Republic and Slovakia; Strongylognathus bulgaricus is removed from synonymy with S. kratochvili and occurs in Bulgaria (Lapeva-Gjonova & Radchenko, 2021; Lapeva-Gjonova & Antonova, 2022).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 42.596228° to 42.02333333°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Czech Republic, Slovakia.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Flight Period

						X	X	X
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: Seifert, 2018.

• Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.
• Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• kratochvili. Strongylognathus kratochvili Šilhavý, 1937: 5, 6 figs. (w.q.) CZECH REPUBLIC.
  • Type-material: syntype workers, syntype queen(s) (numbers not stated).
  • Type-locality: Czech Republic: Moravia, nr Mohelno, 21.iii.1936 (V. Šilhavý).
  • Type-depository: NHMP (perhaps also in MMBC).
  • Status as species: Novák & Sadil, 1941: 87 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 395; Lapeva-Gjonova, et al. 2010: 30; Borowiec, L. 2014: 164; Lebas, et al. 2016: 338; Seifert, 2018: 239; Werner, et al. 2018: 7.
  • Synonym of bulgaricus: Pisarski, 1966: 515; Kutter, 1968b: 205; Bolton, 1976: 306.
  • [Note: Pisarski, Kutter, and Bolton give bulgaricus as senior synonym, but kratochvili has priority (Bolton, 1995b: 395).]
  • Distribution: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia.

Type Material

Bezděčková et al. (2017) - Holotype and four paratypes are deposited in Museum of the Highlands, Jihlava, Czech Republic (all dry-mounted, glued on rectangular card labels).

• HOLOTYPE (worker, enclosed in a small glass vial (35 × 8 mm) stored inside a larger glass vial (50 × 20 mm) marked lengthwise by red tape): ‘Strongylognathus kratochvili Šilh. / Holotypus [worker symbol] – Mohelno [hw] // Strongylognathus / kratochvili Šilhavý [hw] / Holotypus [worker symbol] / 11141 [hw] -/- ČSSR / Mohelno – hadcová step /21. III. 1936 / V. Šilhavý leg. et det. [hw] ’ [IN: E26-T5].
• PARATYPES (1 alate queen 1 dalate queen, each glued on a small rectangular label and all together on one larger card label ca. 40 × 16 mm): ‘Strongylognathus / Kratochvili Šilh. / Typ  [hw] -/- 0339 [hw] // Strongylognathus  / Kratochvili Šilh. / Mohelno 31. 3. 1936 [hw]’, [IN: E26-T6, E26-T7].
• PARATYPES (2 workers, each glued on a small rectangular label and all together on one larger card label ca. 40 × 16 mm): ‘Strongylognathus / Kratochvili Šilh. / Paratypy [hw]’, [IN: E26-T8, E26-T9].

Remarks. In the Czech part of the original description, ŠILHAVÝ (1937: 7) stated that he collected a few specimens of workers of S. kratochvili on 31 March 1936. However, in the French summary (p. 10), he indicated 21 March 1936 as the collecting date which also corresponds to the date on the label of the holotype. The female paratypes were collected, according to the original description (p. 7), in June 1936, which differs from 31. 3. 1936 on their label. These discrepancies probably arose as a result of mistake during labelling of the female paratypes.

One additional worker labelled as a paratype is stored in Museum of the Highlands, Jihlava, Czech Republic which is not considered to be a part of the type series due to year of the collection being after the description of the species (1945).

References

• Bezděčková, K., Bezděčka, P., Macek, J., Malenovský, I. 2017. Catalogue of type specimens of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) deposited in Czech museums. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 57(1): 295-308 (doi:10.1515/aemnp-2017-0076).
• Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Borowiec, L., van Delft, J.P.L., van Delft, J.J.C.W., Salata, S. 2023. Five ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) new to the Greek fauna with notes on ants from Greek Thrace. Annales of the Upper Silesian Museum in Bytom, Entomology 32 (online 008), 1-13 (doi:10.5281/ZENODO.10101028).
• de la Mora, A., Sankovitz, M., Purcell, J. 2020. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as host and intruder: recent advances and future directions in the study of exploitative strategies. Myrmecological News 30: 53-71 (doi:10.25849/MYRMECOL.NEWS_030:053).
• Lapeva-Gjonova, A., Antonova, V. 2022. An updated checklist of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Bulgaria, after 130 years of research. Biodiversity Data Journal 10, e95599 (doi:10.3897/bdj.10.e95599).
• Lapeva-Gjonova, A., Kiran, K. 2012. Ant fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Strandzha (Istranca) Mountain and adjacent Black Sea coast. North-Western Journal of Zoology 8(1), 72-84.
• Lapeva-Gjonova, A., Radchenko, A. 2021. Ant genus Strongylognathus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Bulgaria: a preliminary review. Biodiversity Data Journal 9, e65742 (doi:10.3897/bdj.9.e65742).
• Pisarski, B. 1966. Études sur les fourmis du genre Strongylognathus Mayr (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Ann. Zool. (Warsaw) 23: 509-523 (page 515, Synonym of bulgaricus)
• Sanetra, M., Buschinger, A. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships among social parasites and their hosts in the ant tribe Tetramoriini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). European Journal of Entomology 97: 95-117.
• Seifert, B. 2018. The ants of Central and Northern Europe. lutra Verlags- und Vertiebsgesellschaft, Tauer, 408 pp.
• Silhavy, V. 1937b. Strongylognathus kratochvili n. sp., novy preaglacialni mravenec z Moravy. Sb. Prírodoved. Klubu Trebici 1: 5-12 (page 5, 6, figs. worker, queen described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Bezdeckova K., P. Bexdecka, J. Macek, and I. Malenovsky. 2017. Catalogue of type specimens of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) deposited in Czech museums. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 57(1): 295-308.
• Borowiec L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
• Czechowski W., A. Radchenko, W. Czechowska and K. Vepsäläinen. 2012. The ants of Poland with reference to the myrmecofauna of Europe. Fauna Poloniae 4. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 1-496 pp
• Pisarski B. 1966. Études sur les fourmis du genre Strongylognathus Mayr. Annales Zoologici, Warszawa. 23: 509-523.
• Silhavy V. 1937. Strongylognathus kratochvili n. sp., novy preaglacialni mravenec z Moravy. Sb. Prírodoved. Klubu Trebici 1: 5-12.