Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Central Anatolian Region of Turkey

The Central Anatolian part of Turkey was investigated with the aim of determining its Formicidae fauna. Specimens were collected by hand sampling and pitfall traps in 24 habitats in 383 different localities in Central Anatolia Region during 2001–2016. As a result, 137 species belonging to 34 genera were determined. Messor incorruptus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929 and Ponera testacea Emery, 1895 are new records for Turkish ant fauna. We excluded four species, Camponotus sylvaticus (Oliver, 1792), Messor meridionalis (André, 1883), Proformica striaticeps (Forel, 1911) and Tapinoma nigerrimum (Nylander, 1856), from Turkish ant fauna due to recent taxonomic data and distribution pattern. With these records and exclusions ant fauna of Turkey is updated from 377 to 375.