The genus consists of around 200 known species and additional subspecies,[2] although this figure is likely to rise as soon as the Chinese andNearctic fauna lists are revised.[4][5]
The genus contains a number ofinquiline species (commensal symbionts), otherMyrmica species that manage to invade the nest of their host. Subsequently, they use hormones to manipulate the host colony in such a way that eggs of the host queen develop into workers, and parasite brood into sexuals. Hence, the parasite is not able to sustain a colony of its own, but uses host resources instead.[6][7]
Similarly, larvae of the butterfly genusMaculinea (a junior synonym ofPhengaris, familyLycaenidae) and of thesouthern armyworm, live insideMyrmica nests where they are either directly fed by ants or prey upon ant brood. This parasitism is employed primarily by specific species such asPhengaris arion forming predatory relationships.[8]
Myrmica species cultivating aphidsMyrmica species workers drinking sugared water
Latreille, P.A. 1804: Tableau méthodique des insectes. Classe huitième. Insectes, Insecta. Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, 24: 129–200.
Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau. 1835: Histoire naturelle des insectes. Hyménoptères. I. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris. 574 pp.
Roger. 1863: Verzeichniss der Formiciden-Gattungen und Arten. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift, 7(suppl.): 1–65.
Dours. 1873: Catalogue synonymique des Hyménoptères de France. Memoires de la Société Linneenne du Nord de la France, 3: 1–230.
Radchenko & Elmes. 1998: Taxonomic revision of the ritae species-group of the genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Vestnik Zoologii, 32.
Radchenko & Elmes. 2001: A taxonomic revision of the ant genus Myrmica Latreille, 1804 from the Himalaya (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Entomologica Basiliensia, 23: 237–276.
Wei, Zhou & He. 2001: A taxonomic study of the genus Myrmica Latreille from China (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 26(4): 560–564.
Radchenko A.G. & G.W. Elmes. 2003: A taxonomic revision of the socially parasitic Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Palaearctic region. Annales Zoologici, 53(2): 217–243.
Radchenko A.G., G.W. Elmes & A. Alicata. 2006: Taxonomic revision of the schencki-group of the ant genus Myrmica Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Palaearctic region. Annales Zoologici, 56(3): 499–538.
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