TY - JOUR AU - Dolek,Matthias AU - Freese-Hager,Anja AU - Geyer,Adi T1 - Ecology, colony structure, and conservation biology of Formica (Coptoformica) foreli BONDROIT, 1918 in Bavaria, Germany (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) JF - Myrmecological News Y1 - 2008 PB - Österreichische Gesellschaft für Entomofaunistik SN - 1994-4136 SP - 49 EP - 52 VL - 11 KW - Ants, Coptoformica, Formica foreli, conservation, colony structure, calcareous grassland AB - The first record of Formica foreli BONDROIT, 1918 in Bavaria, of 2005, is described. It is the 20th location published of this species in Germany. The unpublished data bank of B. Seifert (pers. comm. 2007) contains 87 entries from about 60 localities in Germany, 37 records made after 1999. The first Bavarian locality is north of Regensburg in the Franconian Jura on limestone. The habitat is an abandoned calcareous grassland with surrounding shrubs and pines, some nests (21) were also found on an adjoining abandoned field. In 2006, 94 nests were counted on 1325 m2, the majority of them (73) on the calcareous grassland. Nests on the calcareous grassland were smaller and closer to each other than those on the abandoned field. Two hypotheses to explain this difference are discussed: (1) A possibly larger food supply on the abandoned field allows larger nests to be formed that are further apart from each other. This is based on data on F. pressilabris NYLANDER, 1846. (2) A possibly enemy-free (ant-free) space in the abandoned field allows spreading and forming of large nests. The observed nest- and colony-structure in Bavaria is compared to that of other German localities and some general features are summarized. ER -