Zheng , 1995 a new ant species for Kazakhstan ( Hymenoptera , Formicidae )

The genus Rossomyrmex Arnoldi, 1928 currently includes four species. Chronologically: R. proformicarum Arnoldi, 1928, R. minuchae Tinaut, 1981, R. quandratinodum Xia & Zheng, 1995 and finally R. anatolicus Tinaut, 2007. Their type localities are shown on Figure 1. Rossomyrmex proformicarum was described in the Caspian plains (Arnoldi, 1928) but, in 1974, Marikovsky also cited it in the eastern end of Kazakhstan (NE from Almaty) and 2400 Km from the type locality. During June 2007 some members of our research group visited the desert of Semirechje, the Big Kalkan, middle course of the river Ily and the lower course of the river Charin, the localities mentioned by Marikovsky (1974) as inhabited by R. proformicarum in eastern Kazakhstan. Of these, only in the depression on the Ily River, near the Charin River (N: 43o 21,956’; E: 079o 01.262’) were we able to find barely three Rossomyrmex nests after an exhaustive search for more than ten days. In the field, we confirmed that the collected samples did not correspond as expected to R. proformicarum, but to R. quandratinodum. Rossomyrmex quandratinodum (Xia & Zheng, 1995) is very characteristic because of its pilosity and the square profile of the petiole but above all because of its colour, markedly bicoloured, with an orange head and thorax, and black gaster, as described by Xia & Zheng (1995). Up to now, it is the only bicoloured species in the genus, making a clear differentiation from R. proformicarum. We failed to locate the specimens studied by Marikovsky but there are some circumstances that lead us to doubt the presence of R. proformicarum in the areas studied by this author. First, it is improbable that both species of the same genus inhabit the same site. Secondly, if not, we would not expect the three nests sampled to belong to one single species. Thus we suggest the possibility that Marikovsky did not compare his material with the original description of the only species of the genus known at that moment (1974), assuming that the samples he saw and studied belonged to it. Besides, the original described area for the species is the plain of Urumchi region, East of China. In fact, the location where we found R. quandratinodum is less than 100 Km from the Chinese border and represents a continuation of the Chinese steppes from the region of Urumchi. The Ily River comes from this region in China. Therefore, the two plains form a geographical continuity. All this allows us to affirm the synonymy between the samples of R. proformicarum studied by Marikovsky (1974) and R. quandratinodum. Moreover, our discovery represents the first citation of R. quandratinodum in Kazakhstan. Therefore, we propose formally the following synonymy: Rossomyrmex proformicarum Marikovsky, 1974, Ins. Soc, 21 301-308 = Rossomyrmex quandratinodum Xia & Zheng, 1995, Entomotax, 17: 219. The material of the present study is stored in the first author’s collection and in the entomological collection in the National Museum of Natural Sciences of Madrid.

Rossomyrmex proformicarum was described in the Caspian plains (Arnoldi, 1928(Arnoldi, ) but, in 1974, Marikovsky also cited it in the eastern end of Kazakhstan (NE from Almaty) and 2400 Km from the type locality.
During June 2007 some members of our research group visited the desert of Semirechje, the Big Kalkan, middle course of the river Ily and the lower course of the river Charin, the localities mentioned by Marikovsky (1974) as inhabited by R. proformicarum in eastern Kazakhstan.Of these, only in the depression on the Ily River, near the Charin River (N: 43º 21,956'; E: 079º 01.262') were we able to find barely three Rossomyrmex nests after an exhaustive search for more than ten days.In the field, we confirmed that the collected samples did not correspond as expected to R. proformicarum, but to R. quandratinodum.
Rossomyrmex quandratinodum (Xia & Zheng, 1995) is very characteristic because of its pilosity and the square profile of the petiole but above all because of its colour, markedly bicoloured, with an orange head and thorax, and black gaster, as described by Xia & Zheng (1995).Up to now, it is the only bicoloured species in the genus, making a clear differentiation from R. proformicarum.
We failed to locate the specimens studied by Marikovsky but there are some circumstances that lead us to doubt the presence of R. proformicarum in the areas studied by this author.First, it is improbable that both species of the same genus inhabit the same site.Secondly, if not, we would not expect the three nests sampled to belong to one single species.Thus we suggest the possibility that Marikovsky did not compare his material with the original description of the only species of the genus known at that moment (1974), assuming that the samples he saw and studied belonged to it.
Besides, the original described area for the species is the plain of Urumchi region, East of China.In fact, the location where we found R. quandratinodum is less than 100 Km from the Chinese border and represents a continuation of the Chinese steppes from the region of Urumchi.The Ily River comes from this region in China.Therefore, the two plains form a geographical continuity.
All this allows us to affirm the synonymy between the samples of R. proformicarum studied by Marikovsky (1974) and R. quandratinodum.Moreover, our discovery represents the first citation of R. quandratinodum in Kazakhstan.
Therefore, we propose formally the following synonymy: Rossomyrmex proformicarum Marikovsky, 1974, Ins. Soc, 21 301-308 = Rossomyrmex quandratinodum Xia & Zheng, 1995, Entomotax, 17: 219.The material of the present study is stored in the first author's collection and in the entomological collection in the National Museum of Natural Sciences of Madrid.

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.-Type localities of the species of the genus Rossomyrmex.