Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Gökçeada Island, Türkiye

Türkiye is a very important country for faunal and floral studies due to its geographical location, the zoogeographic importance of its location and the biological richness it brings. This important area has been the subject of research on ants since second half of 19th century. However, studies on the ant fauna of the islands of Türkiye are very old and insufficient. For this reason, the ant fauna of Gökçeada, the largest island of Türkiye, was investigated by direct collecting and litter sifting methods in 2017-2018. 72 species belonging to 4 subfamilies and 23 genera were identified from 1105 ant samples obtained from 73 different localities and 16 different habitats. Among these species, Messor maculifrons Santschi, 1927 and Tetramorium sahlbergi Finzi, 1936 are new records for the ant fauna of Türkiye. In addition, the ergatoid queen of Hypoponera eduardi (Forel, 1894) was recorded for the first time outside the Afrotropical region.