OCCURRENCE OF ANT (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) AND APHID (HOMOPTERA, APHIDINEA) SYNINCLUSIONS IN SAXONIAN AND ROVNO AMBERS

Abstract

Ant species found as syninclusions with aphids in Rovno and Saxonian ambers are listed for the first time. In a collection of 143 pieces of Rovno amber with worker ants, aphids were found in only one syninclusion with Ctenobethylus goepperti (Mayr). In a collection of Saxonian amber, 53 aphids of the genus Germaraphis were found in 152 amber pieces with ant workers; five syninclusions with aphids contained 19 specimens of C. goepperti; two syninclusions contained ten specimens of Lasius schiefferdeckeri Mayr; and three syninclusions contained one specimen each: one Camponotus mengei Mayr, one Anonichomyrma constricta (Mayr), and one Formica flori Mayr. Considering that the Rovno and Saxonian collections are nearly equal in the number of amber pieces, the fundamental difference in the number of syninclusions is striking. The number of C. goepperti in syninclusions is disproportionately high; the proportion of syninclusions with aphids and C. goepperti is 1.6 times that of all inclusions of workers of this species. They are found in 31% of examined inclusions of workers in the collection of the Saxonian amber, but in 50% of syninclusions of the entire collection. This strongly suggests that C. goepperti and Germaraphis formed an association during their lifetime. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc. 2006.