Strongylognathus

Paknia, O., Radchenko, A. & Pfeiffer, M., 2010, New records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran., Asian Myrmecology 3, pp. 29-38 : 35

Strongylognathus sp. ir-astaneh-01

Material: 3 ?, Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests, Astaneh, rural area (~ 37°15'N, 49°56'E), ~0 m asl, summer 2004, leg. Faeze Mohammaddoost .

Remarks: The genus Strongylognathus is new to Iran. It is one of few genera endemic to the Palaearctic Region. It comprises about 25 species, centred in the western Palaearctic (the range being Europe, northwest Africa, Anatolia, the Middle East, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and southwest Siberia), and only three species are known from the eastern Palaearctic (China, Korea and Japan) (e.g., Radchenko 1985, 1991; Radchenko 1995b; Wei et al. 2001; Japanese Ant Database Group 2003; Radchenko 2005). All Strongylognathus species are permanent social parasites in nests of the Tetramorium Mayr species.