Article

Vladimir A. Zryanin, PhD, Associate Professor at the Department of Botany and Zoology, Institute of Biology and Biomedicine, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (603950, Russia, Nizhniy Novgorod Region, Nizhny Novgorod, Gagarin Avenue, 23); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4769-5554; e-mail: zryanin@list.ru
Tatyana V. Popkova, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Botany and Zoology, Institute of Biology and Biomedicine, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (603950, Russia, Nizhniy Novgorod Region, Nizhny Novgorod, Gagarin Avenue, 23); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8397-4462; e-mail: tatyanapopkovaptv@ya.ru
Alexander B. Ruchin, Dr.Sc., Associate Professor, Director of the Joint Directorate of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve and National Park «Smolny» (430005, Russia, Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, Krasnaya Street, 30); iD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2653-3879; e-mail: ruchin.alexander@gmail.com

Zryanin V.A., Popkova T.V., Ruchin A.B. 2026. Evaluation of ant diversity (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the National Park «Smolny» and the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (European Russia), based on different sampling methods. Nature Conservation Research 11(2): 14–23. https://dx.doi.org/10.24189/ncr.2026.010

Formicidae (hereinafter – ants) are key components of terrestrial ecosystems and serve as effective indicators of biodiversity status. The study of the ant fauna is particularly important in Protected Areas, where natural species assemblages are preserved. Based on samples collected using Barber traps, Moericke yellow pan traps, and Malaise traps in 2021–2024, a comparative assessment of ant diversity was conducted in the National Park «Smolny» and the Mordovia State Nature Reserve (Russia). In the National Park «Smolny», 38 ant species were identified, while 41 species were found in the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. The highest number of species was collected using Barber traps (32 species in the National Park «Smolny» and 36 species in the Mordovia State Nature Reserve). In the species abundance structure of ants in the National Park «Smolny», there were fewer species with low occurrence compared to the Mordovia State Nature Reserve. Additionally, the Pielou evenness index and Simpson diversity index values are higher in the National Park «Smolny», both for all methods and for each used method. Analysis of accumulation curves for observed and expected species numbers with increasing sample size demonstrated that Barber traps were more effective than Moericke yellow pan traps and Malaise traps for studying ants. Multispecies ant communities were examined in five habitat types across three functional land-use zones in the National Park «Smolny». The study revealed typical differences between ant communities in open and forest habitats, while similar habitats in different functional zones showed no such differences. The obtained results indicate that long-term passive sampling provides reliable and representative data on ant species composition and occurrence. Among the used methods of sampling, Barber pitfall traps proved the most efficient and they are recommended as a primary tool for myrmecological sampling. The complementary use of Moericke yellow pan traps and Malaise traps is suggested to improve detection of alate individuals, thereby offering valuable additional information for species identification.

ant fauna, Barber trap, ecological index, Malaise trap, species accumulation curve, yellow pan trap

Received: 28.08.2025. Revised: 27.12.2025. Accepted: 17.02.2026.

Bestelmeyer B.T., Agosti D., Leeanne E., Alonso T., Brandão C.R.F., Brown W.L., Delabie J.H.C., Silvestre R. 2000. Field techniques for the study of ground dwelling ants: An overview, description, and evaluation. In: D. Agosti, J.D. Majer, L.E. Alonso, T.R. Schultz (Eds.): Ants: standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. P. 122–144.

Bukvareva E.N., Aleshchenko G.M. 2013. The principle of optimal diversity of biosystems. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press Ltd. 522 p. [In Russian]

Dlusskiy G.M. 1965. Methods of quantitative census taking of soil dwelling ants. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 44(5): 716–727. [In Russian]

Golub V.B., Tsurikov M.N., Prokin A.A. 2012. Insect collections: sampling, processing and conservation of the material. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press Ltd. 339 p. [In Russian]

Gotelli N.J., Ellison A.M., Dunn R.R., Sanders N.J. 2011. Counting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): biodiversity sampling and statistical analysis for myrmecologists. Myrmecological News 15: 13–19. DOI: 10.25849/myrmecol.news_015:013

Hsieh T.C., Ma K.H., Chao A. 2016. iNEXT: an R package for rarefaction and extrapolation of species diversity (Hill numbers). Methods in Ecology and Evolution 7(12): 1451–1456. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12613

Magurran A.E. 1992. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Moscow: Mir. 184 p. [In Russian]

Montgomery G.A., Belitz M.W., Guralnick R.P., Tingley M.W. 2021. Standards and best practices for monitoring and benchmarking insects. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8: 579193. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.579193

Oksanen J. 2025. Vegan: ecological diversity. Available from https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/vegan/vignettes/diversity-vegan.pdf

Pesenko Yu.A. 1982. Principles and methods of quantitative analysis in faunistic research. Moscow: Nauka. 287 p. [In Russian]

Popkova T.V., Zryanin V.A., Ruchin A.B. 2021. The ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Mordovia State Nature Reserve, Russia. Nature Conservation Research 6(3): 45–57. DOI: 10.24189/ncr.2021.037 [In Russian]

R Core Team. 2023. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available from https://www.R-project.org

Ruchin A.B. 2008. List of insect species of the National Park «Smolny». In: Proceedings of the National Park «Smolny» 1: 151–180. [In Russian]

Ruchin A.B. 2015. Additional list of insect species of the National Park «Smolny». Proceedings of the National Park «Smolny» 2: 102–121. [In Russian]

Ruchin A.B., Zryanin V.A. 2013. To the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Republic of Mordovia. In: Ants and Forest Protection. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press Ltd. P. 108–110. [In Russian]

Saroj S., Mandi A., Basak N., Mandal P. 2024. The Buxa Tiger Reserve as a 'hot spot' of ant diversity in West Bengal state (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Far Eastern Entomologist 503: 16–22. DOI: 10.25221/fee.503.3

Schultheiss P., Nooten S.S., Wang R., Wong M.K.L., Brassard F., Guénard B. 2022. The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 119(40): e2201550119. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201550119

Seifert B., Kulmuni J., Pamilo P. 2010. Independent hybrid populations of Formica polyctena × rufa wood ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) abound under conditions of forest fragmentation. Evolutionary Ecology 24(5): 1219–1237. DOI: 10.1007/s10682-010-9371-8

Tista M., Fiedler K. 2011. How to evaluate and reduce sampling effort for ants. Journal of Insect Conservation 15(4): 547–559. DOI: 10.1007/s10841-010-9350-y

Underwood E.C., Fisher B.L. 2006. The role of ants in conservation monitoring: if, when, and how. Biological Conservation 132(2): 166–182. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2006.03.022

Zakharov A.A. 1975. Counting anthills and termite mounds. In: Methods of soil zoological studies. Moscow: Nauka. P. 86–99. [In Russian]

Zakharov A.A., Sablin-Yavorskiy A.D. 1998. Ants in studying of biological diversity. Advances in Modern Biology 118(3): 246–264. [In Russian]

Zryanin V.A., Zryanina T.A. 2007. New data about ant fauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Middle Volga River Basin. Advances in Modern Biology 127(2): 226–240. [In Russian]