Myrmica xavieri sp. n., a new ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Spain

Abstract

Here we describe a new ant species from Spain, Myrmica xavieri. We place it in the Myrmica lobicornis species group of which three species are previously known in the Iberian Peninsula: M. lobicornis Nylander, M. wesmaeli Bondroit, and M. lobulicornis Nylander. Of these, M. xavieri most closely resembles M. wesmaeli. M. xavieri is likely an Iberian endemic, a relict of the fauna isolated in the Iberian Peninsula during the Pleistocene. © Entomologica Fennica.