Sifolinia karavajevi, Emery

Collingwood, C. A., 1979, The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark., Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 8, pp. 1-174 : 58-59

13. Sifolinia karavajevi (Arnoldi, 1930)

Figs. 69-71.

Symbiomyrma karavajevi Arnoldi , 1930:267.

Sifolinia laurae Emery ; Yarrow, 1968 (misidentification).

Sifolinia karavajevi (Arnoldi) ; Kutter, 1973:258 (redescription).

Queen. Pale yellowish brown to brownish, appendages pale; antennae with long scape slightly and evenly curved near base, 12 segmented with indeterminate 3-4 segmented club, ultimate funiculus segment x 1 1/2 length of penultimate. Propodeal spines strong and blunt, about as long as space between their tips. Occiput in full dorsal view feebly concave or straight, eyes prominent, ocelli distinct, frons broad. Postpetiole developed ventrally as a blunt forward projecting tooth. Head and alitrunk with shallow rugulose striae and scattered punctures. First gaster tergite with very short scattered decumbent hairs only; head, alitrunk and appendages with suberect hairs which are longer and thicker on antennae. Length: 3.2-3.6 mm.

Male. Pale brown; antennae 12 segmented, scape about as long as 7 following segments, slightly curved near base. Postpetiole with blunt ventral projection; notauli V shaped; propodeum bidentate. Head and mesonotum very shining. Scattered hairs over dorsum of gaster, longer and thicker on head, alitrunk and appendages. Length: 3.5 mm.

Distribution. Sweden: Sk., Krankesjdn (Douwes, 1977). - Norway: HE, Eidskog (Collingwood, 1976). - Finland: Sa, Ryistiina (leg. Forsslund). - England: Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, very rare. - Range: very local. S. England to Ukraine, Czechoslovakia to Finland.

Biology. This ant has been recorded sometimes in large numbers and sometimes as one or two individuals in nests of various Myrmica host species including M. rugulosa, M. scabrinodis and M. sabuleti . A colony in Dorset, England, was observed for over 4 years during which time alate queens and males of the parasite were present each season together with workers and worker brood of the host, indicating that egg laying queens of both parasite and Myrmica host were surviving together in the same nest. In Norway 2 dealate queens were caught in pitfall traps in July 1974 suggesting that after mating, fertilised queens wander over the ground in search of a colony of the host species.