Title:

Overview of ant species collected in the Białowieża Forest in Poland: the importance of long-term monitoring for the detection of new species

Subtitle:

Long-term monitoring of ants in the Białowieża Forest ; Mrówki (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Puszczy Białowieskiej – przegląd gatunków oraz znaczenie długoterminowego monitoringu w wykrywaniu nowych gatunków

Creator:

Sondej, Izabela ; Trigos-Peral, Gema ; Sućko, Krzysztof ; Gutowski, Jerzy M.

Publisher:

Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Date issued/created:

2026

Description:

30 cm

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Subject and Keywords:

ants ; faunistic ; coniferous forest ; oak-hornbeam deciduous forest

Abstract:

Knowledge of ant distribution in Poland remains incomplete, despite a recent increase in faunistic and ecological studies. The Białowieża Forest, one of Europe’s most valuable natural forest complexes, has been the subject of long-term invertebrate monitoring, yet its myrmecofauna has not been comprehensively updated for almost decade. This study synthesises data collected between 2003 and 2015 from permanent monitoring plots located in both the strictly protected zone of Białowieża National Park and the managed part of the forest. Ants were sampled using Moericke, Barber, and IBL- 2bis traps in two forest habitat types: fresh mixed coniferous forest (Calamagrostio-Piceetum) and fresh deciduous forest (Tilio-Carpinetum). A total of 28 species were recorded. Four species – Lasius distinguendus (Emery, 1916), Camponotus fallax (Nylander, 1856), Formica rufibarbis Fabricius, 1793 and Leptothorax gredleri Mayr, 1855 – were documented for the first time in the Białowieża Forest. One species – Formica pressilabris Nylander, 1846 – was documented for the first time in the Polish part of the Białowieża Forest. The highest numbers of recorded species and collected individuals were observed in mixed coniferous forest plots within the National Park; however, comparisons between habitat types should be interpreted cautiously because sampling intensity differed between plots. The most frequently recorded species were Myrmica ruginodis Nylander, 1846, Formica fusca Linnaeus, 1758, Camponotus herculeanus (Linnaeus, 1758), Lasius platythorax Seifert, 1991, and F. sanguinea Latreille, 1798. Currently, 50 ant species are known from the Białowieża Forest as a whole, including 50 recorded from the Polish part and 33 from the Belarusian part, which primarily reflects differences in the intensity and extent of myrmecological research between the two areas rather than actual faunal disparities. The results provide an updated overview of the Białowieża Forest myrmecofauna and highlight the importance of long-term monitoring in detecting rare and newly recorded species, as well as in understanding habitat-related differences in ant assemblages within this ancient forest ecosystem.

Relation:

Fragmenta Faunistica 2026, 69: 1

Volume:

69

Issue:

1

Start page:

41

End page:

56

Resource type:

Text

Detailed Resource Type:

Article

Resource Identifier:

10.3161/00159301FF2026.69.1.08

Source:

MiIZ PAN, call no. P.256 ; MiIZ PAN, call no. P.4664

Language:

eng ; eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY 4.0 license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY 4.0] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY 4.0 license, full text available at: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Access:

Open