Dolichoderus affinis

Dolichoderus affinis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Tribe:	Dolichoderini
Genus:	Dolichoderus
Species:	D. affinis
Binomial name
Dolichoderus affinis Emery, 1889 Specimen Labels
Subspecies
Dolichoderus affinis glabripes Forel, 1895 Dolichoderus affinis mus Santschi, 1920
Synonyms
Dolichoderus affinis nigricans Emery, 1895

Viehmeyer 1916: 141 - Malay Peninsula: beneath the bark of a branch of a dead tree; Le Pelley 1943: 79 - Philippines and Java: trophobiosis with Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell) (Pseudococciclae); Manmohini Devi et al. 1987: 104 - India: trophobiosis with the aphids, Greenidea formosana heeri Raychaudhuri and Aphis gossypii Glover. Dill 2002 - often in trophobiotic associations with different pseudococcids, aphids (e. g. Pseudoregma sp.) and membracids [e.g. Ebhul varius (Walker)]; polygynous, nest in hollow, dead tree branch. Heterick & Kitching (2022) collected this species in the canopy of a lowland dipterocarp forest in Brunei.

Identification

Dill (2002) - Morphologically near Dolichoderus thoracicus except for posterior margin of ascending dorsal face of propodeum more sharply edged and, in profile, distinctly overhanging the concavely curved declivity. Regarding this character, the affinis workers somewhat resemble those of Dolichoderus pilinomas of the Dolichoderus cuspidatus group. However, the propodeum of the latter rises distinctly higher.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Dolichoderus of China
• Key to the Dolichoderus thoracicus species-group in Thailand

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 29.78° to 4.333333333°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore.
Oriental Region: India, Laos, Myanmar (type locality), Nepal, Vietnam.
Palaearctic Region: China.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Malay Peninsula: polygynous; keeping aphids; nest in bamboo internodes and underneath loose bark; exuviae of Microdon pupae (Diptera: Syrphidae) in one nest; queens orientate towards light. As reported by Viehmeyer 1916 for the synonym D. affinis nigricans.

Castes

Worker

.	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Dolichoderus affinis. Worker. Specimen code casent0905017. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Syntype of Dolichoderus affinis nigricans. Worker. Specimen code casent0905018. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• affinis. Dolichoderus affinis Emery, 1889b: 508, pl. 11, fig. 20 (w.) MYANMAR. Viehmeyer, 1916a: 141 (q.). Combination in D. (Hypoclinea): Emery, 1894c: 229. Senior synonym of nigricans: Xu, 1995a: 36. Current subspecies: nominal plus glabripes, mus.
• nigricans. Dolichoderus affinis var. nigricans Emery, 1895k: 474 (w.) MYANMAR. Junior synonym of affinis: Xu, 1995a: 36.

Description

Worker

Bingham (1903): Reddish brow n to dark brown, the mandibles, antennae and legs lighter in colour; head, thorax and abdomen sparsely pilose and pubescent. Head shining, very finely closely punctate, longer than broad; cheeks and front very convex; mandibles proportionately large, the apical tooth long, acute and slightly curved; clypeus, antennae and eyes as in D. bituberculatus. Thorax: the pronotum slightly flit and anteriorly margined ; the mesonotum raised, somewhat flat, indistinctly medially sulcate ; metanotum slightly convex and sloping from back to front, its apical portion truncate and concave; the whole thorax irregularly but very distinctly punctured, wrinkled and sculptured, but not so coarsely as in D. bituberculatus; legs long, rather markedly pilose. Node of the pedicel inclined forward. thick at base, transverse above; abdomen somewhat elongately oval, smooth and shining, very convex above.

Length: 3.5 - 4 mm

References

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