Interim results of red wood ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) settlement monitoring in Novosibirsk city and Novosibirskaya Oblast
The data on size and spatial distribution of the settlements of red wood ants in two forests of the Novosibirskaya Oblast (NSO) and in the forest-park zone of Novosibirsk city are presented. In the NSO on the territory of the former reserve «Beryozovskii», there are more than 400 anthills of Formica aquilonia Yarrow, 1955 with a density of 14 nests/ha. More than 280 anthills of F. aquilonia with a density reaching 32 nests/ha are registered in the large complexes of nests «Ant Forest» and «House of Scientists» in In Novosibirsk Academgorodok. The predominance of small nests with a dome diameter of 35-100 cm and a spherical shape of a dome as well as rare budding indicates a weakened state of large complexes in urban environments. Forest areas with the unique ant supercolonies need to be given a status of special protected natural areas to preserve myrmecological diversity.