A POPULATION OF THE SOCIAL PARASITE MYRMICA-HIRSUTA ELMES (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) RECORDED FROM JUTLAND, DENMARK, WITH A 1ST DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKER CASTE

The first Danish record of the social parasitic ant Myrmica hirsuta El mes is reported from the Molsbjerg, Jutland. Eight colonies of the hos t species Myrmica sabuleti Meinert were examined and 3 were found to b e infested. Two nests contained a large number of sexuals and a few wo rkers of M. hirsuta, and a few specimens of the myrmecophilous beetle Atemeles emarginatus Paykull. This was the first record of workers for M. hirsuta. The overall sex ratio of the parasites in these nests was highly female biased. The M. hirsuta workers are described and differ ences between the size of the sexuals reared by the two host colonies are discussed.