Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Kyiv

Аннотация

Altogether, 59 ant species from 22 genera of 4 subfamilies have been recorded in Kyiv. Four of them are occasionally introduced species which occur only in premises heated in winter; 19 species are recorded here for the first time for the city. The richness of the myrmecofauna in Kyiv is determined by its position at the boundary of Polesie and Forest-Steppe and by the variety of coenoses within the city. The Kiev myrmecofauna is derived from the zonal faunas of Polesie and Forest-Steppe combined with the azonal southern elements that have penetrated far northwards along the Dnieper valley. The ant species in Kyiv are assigned to 10 zoogeographic complexes; more than half of them have Trans-Palaearctic and Euro-Caucasian distribution. Mesophilic and mesoxerophilic oligotopes predominate in the fauna. The Kyiv ants belong to five chorological complexes: vertical herpetobiont, horizontal herpetobiont, multilevel, soil-litter, and horizontal dendrobiont. The number of ant species in the coniferous and deciduous forests and in the city parks is approximately the same (25–27). The species diversity is lower in meadows, steppe areas, and public gardens (11–16 species), and the lowest (only 4 species) in the streets. The total number of ant species is high not only on the outskirts but also in the central parts of the city due to the presence of forest parks. Four types of multispecies ant assemblages can be distinguished in Kyiv: mono- and bidominant continua of weakly territorial dominants, monodominant assemblages with a territorial dominant, monodominant assemblages with a weakly territorial dominant, and degraded monospecies assemblages without dominants. The state of the population of the invasive species Lasius neglectus, discovered in the center of Kyiv in the summer of 2018, is briefly reviewed and the possibility of its further expansion is considered.