Structure and succession of <i>Lasius</i> s. str. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) assemblages in a Finnish sand dune area – reassessment after taxonomic revisions of the subgenus

Gallé (1991) described the structure of ant assemblages along a successional gradient of sand dune habitats in southern Finland. The work was immediately succeeded by two revisions where two of the most abundant species on the sand dunes were split into two and three species respectively (Seifert 1991, 1992). On the basis of the revised taxonomy and our present work, Gallé’s Lasius (s. str.) alienus (Först.) on the dunes is L. psammophilus Seifert, and his L. (s. str.) niger (L.) includes two sibling species, L. niger and L. platythorax Seifert. We reassess the relative abundances of the Lasius s. str. species and their nest sites in the successional habitats of the dunes in the light of the present taxonomic knowledge.