A preliminary checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Iran.

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Paknia, O., Radchenko, A., Alipanah, H. (2008): A preliminary checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Iran. Myrmecologische Nachrichten 11: 151-159, URL: http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21820/21820.pdfAbstractThe first checklist of the ants of Iran is presented. The study is based on a comprehensive review of literature and the examination of material from our own collections and from several museums and institutions of different European countries. 110 species belonging to 26 genera of six subfamilies of the Formicidae (Formicinae, Myrmicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, Dorylinae and Aenictinae) are recognized from Iran. Most of the reported species were sampled in the north of the country, mostly near human settlements. One subfamily (Dorylinae), two genera (Ponera Latreille, 1804 and Dorylus Fabricius, 1793), as well as seven species (Aphaenogaster gibbosa (Latreille, 1798), A. kurdica Ruzsky, 1905, Crematogaster bogojawlenskii Ruzsky, 1905, Messor minor (Andre, 1883), Tapinoma karavaievi Emery, 1925, Temnothorax parvulus (Schenck, 1852) and Tetramorium inerme Mayr, 1877) were recorded for the Iranian fauna for the first time. The most speciose genera were Camponotus Mayr, 1861, Cataglyphis Foerster, 1850 and Messor Forel, 1890 with 19, 14 and 13 species, respectively. Palaearctic zoogeographic elements prevail in Iran, but several Oriental and Afrotropical genera were also found. Many parts of the country are still studied insufficiently or even not studied at all and we suppose that the total species richness in Iran is essentially higher.Key words: Ants, Iran, checklist, new records.Myrmecol. News 11: 151-159ISSN 1994-4136 (print), ISSN 1997-3500 (online)Received 29 October 2007; revision received 30 April 2008; accepted 5 May 2008M.Sc. Omid Paknia (contact author), Dr. Martin Pfeiffer, Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, AlbertEinstein Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany. E-mail: [e-mail]. Dr. Alexander Radchenko, Museum and Institute of Zoology, PAS, Wilcza str., 64, 00-679, Warsaw, Poland. M.Sc. Helen Alipanah, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection (TRIPP), P.O. Box 19395-1454, Tehran, Iran.