Abstract / Introduction / Summary:
Twenty-three ant species in 17 genera have so far been recorded from the Ôsumi peninsula, Kagoshima-ken, southern Kyushu, Japan. In the present survey conducted in 2022, ants were sampled by hand collecting, and leaf litter/surface soil sifting in Ôsumi peninsula. Fifty-one species belonging to 30 genera are recognized, among which 20 species represent new records for the Ôsumi peninsula. The total numbers of species and genera have amounted to 71 and 36, respectively, based on the present survey, specimens collected earlier and kept in our collections, and literature records. Monomorium triviale and M. hiten are recorded for the first time on mainland Kyushu, the latter, previously confined to the Ryukyu Islands, representing the first record for mainland Japan.
In this study 11 species are recognized as alien. In Kagoshima-ken, Technomyrmex brunneus was first recorded from Sata-misaki in 1954. Our survey shows that the species is currently widely distributed in the Ôsumi peninsula. Another alien, Pheidole indica, was recorded in 1966, but was not collected in the present survey.
