View source for Myrmica salina

{{italic title}}
{{Taxobox
|name = ''Myrmica salina''
|image = Specimen of a M. salina worker.jpg
|image_width = 250px
|image_caption = ''M. salina'' worker specimen
|regnum = [[Animal]]ia
|phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
|classis = [[Insect]]a
|ordo = [[Hymenoptera]]
|familia = [[Formicidae]]
|subfamilia = [[Myrmicinae]]
|tribus = [[Myrmicini]]
|genus = ''[[Myrmica]]''
|species = '''''M. salina'''''
|binomial = ''Myrmica salina''
|binomial_authority = Ruzsky, 1905
|synonyms = 
*''Myrmica scabrinodis ahngeri'' Karavaiev, 1926
*''Myrmica georgica'' Seifert, 1987
*''Myrmica tobiasi'' Radchenko & Elmes, 2004
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=Seifert>{{cite book|last1=Seifert|first1=Bernhard|title=A taxonomic revision of the Eurasian Myrmica salina species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)|date=2011|publisher=Soil Organisms & Section Pterygota, Senckenberg Museum of Natural History|pages=171 - 172|url=http://antcat.s3.amazonaws.com/5275/seifert_2011_soil_organisms-myrmica-salina-species-complex.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJJR3DGROFMVL2FBQ&Expires=1410659492&Signature=ew6eec7vpedPtrXv%2FTUDYqcppFE%3D|accessdate=14 September 2014}}</ref>
}}
'''''Myrmica salina''''' is a species of ant belonging to the genus ''[[Myrmica]]''. They have a wide distribution in Europe and Siberia, as well as being abundant to several [[Republics of the Soviet Union|former republics of the Soviet Union]], where their preferred habitats are relatively wet [[halophyte]] [[biotopes]]. Ruzsky first described the first specimen of the species in 1905.

==Taxonomy==
M. Ruzsky first described the first ''M. salina'' specimen in 1905.<ref name=Ruzsky1905>Ruzsky, M. 1905b. The ants of Russia. (Formicariae Imperii Rossici). Systematics, geography and data on the biology of Russian ants. Part I. [In Russian.]. Trudy Obshchestva Estestvoispytatelei pri Imperatorskom Kazanskom Universitete 38(4-6):1-800. [1905] 128184</ref> The taxonomic history for ''M. salina'' is complicated as the [[type specimens]] have been presumed to be lost, and the original description of the species was ambiguous.<ref name=elmes2010/> Since being described, the ant has three synonyms, being ''Myrmica scabrinodis ahngeri'', by Karavaiev in 1926, ''Myrmica georgica'' by Seifert in 1987, and more recently in 2004, with ''Myrmica tobiasi'' by Radchenko and Elmes.<ref name=Seifert/>

==Description==
The appearance of ''M. salina'' is similar to that of the ants ''[[Myrmica scabrinodis]]'', but in comparison to its other relative, ''[[Myrmica slovaca]]'', its appearance is much different.<ref name=elmes2010/> The description on the ''M. salina'' below is based off the original publications of Ruszky, as well as comments mentioned in Radchenko and Elmes' (2010) publication:

The descriptions of ''M. slaina'' ants were based on worker, queen and males collected from various places in Siberia and Kazakhstan.<ref name=Ruzsky1905/><ref name=elmes2010/> Worker ants had an average length of 4.7-5 mm in length, with brownish-red colors, along with dark brown or blackish-brown head [[dorsum (anatomy)|dorsum]] and first gastral segment. The [[antenna (biology)|antennae]], [[mandibles]], [[Arthropod leg|leg]], [[Glossary of entomology terms|apex]] and [[Gaster (insect anatomy)|gaster]] are of a lighter color.<ref name=Ruzsky1905/> Queens and males are of a same size, usually around 5-6 mm in length. The queen has similar features to the workers, with the exception of its color appearance much darker than its worker counterparts, as well as its antennal scape thickening in the middle.<ref name=Ruzsky1905/>

==Distribution==
''M. salina'' has been observed only in wet and damp habitats, usually seen foraging or even nesting in halophyte and biotope environments, in which these habitats were studied in [[West Siberian Plain|West Siberia]] and [[Kazakhstan]].<ref name=elmes2010/> Their type habitat is [[salt marsh]], where they nest in soil and under rocks, in grass turf, mostly lasine soil.<ref name=antweb-myrmica>{{cite web |url=http://www.antweb.org/description.do?genus=myrmica&species=salina&rank=species&project=austriaants |title= Species: ''Myrmica salina''  |date= |website=antweb.org |publisher=[[AntWeb]] |accessdate=14 September 2014}}</ref> The distribution of ''M. salina'' is mainly in [[Central Europe]] and [[East Europe]], where they are found in the European countries of [[Austria]],<ref name='Steiner"2002"'>{{cite book|last1=Steiner|first1=F.M.|last2=Schödl|first2=S.|last3=Schlick Steiner|first3=B.C.|title=Checklist of the ants of Austria (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), as at October 2002.|date=2003|publisher=Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik|location=[[Vienna]]|page=21|url=http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/8/89/Steiner_Schodl_Schlick-Steiner_2002.pdf|accessdate=14 September 2014|language=German}}</ref> [[Czech Republic]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Werner|first1=Petr|last2=Wiezik|first2=Michal|title=Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae: Vespoidea: Formicidae (mravencovití)|date=2007|publisher=Supplementum|page=140|url=http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/6/6c/Werner_%26_Wiezik_2007.pdf|accessdate=14 September 2014|language=Czech}}</ref> [[Slovenia]],<ref>Gregor Bracko, 2003. New species for the ant fauna of Slovenia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Natura Sloveniae 5(1): 17-25</ref> [[Croatia]],<ref>Gregor Bracko, 2006. Review of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Croatia. Acta Entomologica Slovenica 14 (2): 131-156.</ref> [[Romania]]<ref name='Balint"2012"'>{{cite book|last1=Czekes|first1=Zolt|last2=Radchenko|first2=Alexander G.|last3=Csősz|first3=Sándor|last4=Szász-Len|first4=Annamária|last5=Tăuşan|first5=Ioan|last6=Benedek|first6=Klára|last7=Markó|first7=Bálint|title=The genus Myrmica Latreille, 1804 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Romania: distribution of species and key for their identification|date=2012|publisher=Entomologica romanica|page=1st page|url=http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/6/6d/Czekes_etal_2012.pdf|accessdate=14 September 2014}}</ref> and [[Russia]] (also found in the Asian part of Russia), while in Asia (notably countries of the former [[Soviet Union]]) they are found in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]],<ref>N. Gratiashvili & Sh. Barjadze, 2008. Checklist of the ants (Formicidae Latreille, 1809) of Georgia. Proceedings of the Institute of Zoology, Tbilisi XXIII: 130-146.</ref> [[Kyrgyzstan]]<ref>Roland Schultz, Alexander Radchenko & Bernhard Seifert, 2006. A critical checklist of the ants of Kyrgyzstan (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8: 201-207.</ref> and Kazakhstan.

==Etymology==
From [[medieval Latin]], ''salina'' is translated to "salt pan", or salted place derived from the Latin word ''salis'', which means salt. The name describes the ants type habitat "salted marsh".<ref name=elmes2010>	
Radchenko, A. G.; Elmes, G. W. 2010. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 790 pp. [2010-12-15] </ref> 

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{wikispecies-inline|Myrmica salina|''Myrmica salina''}}

[[Category:Myrmicinae]]
[[Category:Myrmica]]
[[Category:Insects described in 1905]]
[[Category:Insects of Europe]]
[[Category:Insects of Asia]]
[[Category:Fauna of Austria]]
[[Category:Fauna of Croatia]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Fauna of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Fauna of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Fauna of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:Fauna of Romania]]
[[Category:Fauna of Russia]]