Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915) Materials Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: BFUS-I-AG 001995; recordedBy: M. Langourov; individualCount: 1; sex: queen; preparations: pinned; occurrenceID: D271AAA3-2B74-5B38-BC98-9D5F798A89A3; Taxon: scientificName: Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915); order: Hymenoptera; family: Formicidae; taxonRank: species; Location: country: Bulgaria; county: Blagoevgrad; municipality: Strumyani; locality: Struma Valley, near Kamenitsa vill.; minimumElevationInMeters: 170; maximumElevationInMeters: 240; decimalLatitude: 41.650; decimalLongitude: 23.167; Event: samplingProtocol: soil traps; startDayOfYear: 07-09 - 2002; endDayOfYear: 27-09 - 2002; habitat: xerothermophilic site with Quercus coccifera L.; Record Level: collectionID: BFUS; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: BFUS-I-AG 001995; recordedBy: M. Langourov; individualCount: 1; sex: worker; preparations: pinned; occurrenceID: 39583CA7-6A53-55DC-8F37-7F1094C33064; Taxon: scientificName: Myrmoxenus kraussei (Emery, 1915); order: Hymenoptera; family: Formicidae; taxonRank: species; Location: country: Bulgaria; county: Blagoevgrad; municipality: Strumyani; locality: Struma Valley, near Kamenitsa vill.; minimumElevationInMeters: 170; maximumElevationInMeters: 240; decimalLatitude: 41.650; decimalLongitude: 23.167; Event: samplingProtocol: soil traps; startDayOfYear: 07-09 - 2002; endDayOfYear: 27-09 - 2002; habitat: xerothermophilic site with Quercus coccifera L.; Record Level: collectionID: BFUS; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Notes Although the species was considered a degenerate slave-maker because of its very low worker number, Suefuji and Heinze (2015) suggest that it may be actively involved in slave raiding. Myrmoxenus kraussei has a Mediterranean distribution and prefers xerothermophilic habitats, where it most commonly uses Temnothorax recedens as a host (Buschinger 1989, Tinaut et al. 2005). Only two records of M. kraussei were recently reported from Bulgaria (Vrachanska Mt.) (Ljubomirov 2019). It is well distinguished by long, pointed setae (145-170 μm) on the body.

Published as part of Lapeva-Gjonova, Albena, Csősz, Sándor & Mifsud, David, 2024, Further records of social parasitic ants in Europe and review of the Bulgarian species, pp. e 123575 in Biodiversity Data Journal 12 on page e123575, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e123575