Abstract In the second half of the twentieth century, many red wood ant populations were transferred from the Alps to the Apennines as biological control agents. Since the introduction involved the relocation of entire nest mounds, it is presumable that the associated fauna was also relocated. While the introduction of these ants has raised several concerns about their ecological impact, there has been no attempt to investigate the introduction of other nest-associated species. In this study, we collected samples of soil and nest material from three populations of the red wood ant Formica paralugubris, one Alpine native and two imported into the Apennines. We aimed to confirm that nest mounds are hotspots for soil fauna, detect the occurrence of new myrmecophilous species, and compare the nest-associated fauna among sites, to test the hypothesis of mass species relocation. We focused our analyses mainly on two taxa, springtails and oribatid mites, two highly representative groups of the mesofauna inhabiting nest mounds. The results showed higher richness and diversity in nests than soil for oribatids but not for springtails. We found 17 myrmecophilous oribatid species, but only two springtail species. Finally, native and imported sites shared only a few oribatid and springtail species, suggesting that massive relocation did not occur with nest transplants or it was likely limited. Additionally, we found some species never before collected in Italy.

中文翻译：

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与红木蚁 Formica paralugubris 本地和引进种群的巢丘相关的动物群的比较研究

摘要 20世纪下半叶，许多红木蚁种群作为生物防治剂从阿尔卑斯山转移到亚平宁山脉。由于引入涉及整个巢丘的搬迁，据推测相关的动物群也搬迁了。虽然这些蚂蚁的引入引起了对其生态影响的一些担忧，但尚未尝试调查其他与巢相关的物种的引入。在这项研究中，我们从三个红木蚂蚁 Formica paralugubris 种群中收集了土壤和巢穴材料样本，一个是阿尔卑斯本地的，两个是进口到亚平宁山脉的。我们的目的是确认巢丘是土壤动物群的热点，检测新的嗜蚁菌物种的出现，并比较不同地点的巢穴相关动物群，以检验大规模物种迁移的假设。我们的分析主要集中在两个分类群上，跳虫和 oribatid 螨，这是栖息在巢丘中的中型动物群的两个高度代表性的群体。结果表明，鸟巢的丰富度和多样性高于土壤，但跳虫则不然。我们发现了 17 种 myrmecophilous oribatid 物种，但只有两种跳虫。最后，本地和进口地点仅共享少数 oribatid 和跳虫物种，这表明巢移植并未发生大规模迁移，或者可能是有限的。此外，我们还发现了一些以前从未在意大利收集过的物种。结果表明，鸟巢的丰富度和多样性高于土壤，但跳虫则不然。我们发现了 17 种 myrmecophilous oribatid 物种，但只有两种跳虫。最后，本地和进口地点仅共享少数 oribatid 和跳虫物种，这表明巢移植并未发生大规模迁移，或者可能是有限的。此外，我们还发现了一些以前从未在意大利收集过的物种。结果表明，鸟巢的丰富度和多样性高于土壤，但跳虫则不然。我们发现了 17 种 myrmecophilous oribatid 物种，但只有两种跳虫。最后，本地和进口地点仅共享少数 oribatid 和跳尾动物物种，这表明巢移植并未发生大规模迁移，或者可能是有限的。此外，我们还发现了一些以前从未在意大利收集过的物种。