Rhabdepyris myrmecophilus Kieffer, 1904

Staverløkk, Arnstein & Ødegaard, Frode, 2021, Two species of ant symbionts in colonies of Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus, 1758) new to Norway, Norwegian Journal of Entomology 68, pp. 260-267 : 265

Rhabdepyris myrmecophilus Kieffer, 1904

The species was first reported from Norway by Hansen (1995). We here report the first female found in Fennoscandia under a rock together with a colony of Tetramorium caespitum .

Records: Norway, AUST-AGDER [ AAY], Risør: Søndeled; Regårdsheia , N58.75071, E9.10607, 130 m asl., 22 September 2021, 1♀ ( Figure 8a ), leg . AS. The identity of the female was confirmed by comparing CO1 barcode sequences of the female with a male (BOLD SampleID: HYMNI 845 in project NODRY) from Norway reported below. The sequences gave 97,84% ID-match. Additional records of males : Norway, BUSKERUD [BØ], Øvre Eiker: Lilleby / Harastokkåsen , N59.77895, E9.93294, Malaise trap, 16 August to 8 September 2012, 2♂, leg. FØ ; N59.77895, E9.93377, 19 July to 3 August 2021, 1♂ ( Figure 8b ), leg. AS; TELEMARK [ TEI], Porsgrunn, Prestemoen , N59.12178, E9.69790, Malaise trap, 16 July to 10 August 2014, 1♂, leg. FØ, BOLD SampleID: HYMNI845 .

A

Biology. Unknown, probably parasitoid of a beetle associated with Tetramorium ( Evans 1979) .

Distribution. Norway, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands ( Dyntaxa 2021, Hansen 1995, Peters et al. 2004, Polaszek 2021).

Figures

FIGURE 8A–B. Rhabdephyris myrmecophilus Kieffer, 1904. A. Female from Søndeled in Risør municipality. B. Male from Lilleby in Øvre Eiker municipality.