Polyrhachis pagana

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Polyrhachis pagana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Camponotini
Genus: Polyrhachis
Subgenus: Cyrtomyrma
Species: P. pagana
Binomial name
Polyrhachis pagana
Santschi, 1928

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Specimen Labels

Identification

Kohout (2008) - When describing P. pagana, Santschi compared his new variety to Polyrhachis euryala and Polyrhachis rastellata. He noted that it differed from P. euryala by having the dorsal petiolar spines longer and finer than the lateral pair, and from P. rastellata by its black appendages. Besides the characters listed above, P. euryala differs from both other species by its distinctly slender mesosoma with the greatest width of the pronotal dorsum at its mid-length. In contrast, both Polyrhachis rastellata and P. pagana feature a more robust pronotal dorsum which is widest across or just behind the shoulders. The two latter species differ mainly by the colour of their legs that are mostly light to medium-red or orange in P. rastellata and black in P. pagana. In addition, the mesosomal profile in P. rastellata is distinctly uneven, with a rather flat or shallowly impressed summit at the promesonotal suture and a weak depression indicating the relative position of the indistinct metanotal groove. In contrast, the mesosoma in P. pagana is almost evenly rounded (more like that in P. euryala), with only a slight change in the angle of the profile at the steeply descending propodeal declivity.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 12.55° to 12.55°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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.
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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.
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Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • pagana. Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) rastellata var. pagana Santschi, 1928h: 134, fig. 2 (w.) INDIA. Raised to species: Kohout, 2008a: 258.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Type Material

Kohout (2008) - Holotype worker. INDIA, Kanara (Bell), Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel (examined).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Dad J. M., S. A. Akbar, H. Bharti, and A. A. Wachkoo. 2019. Community structure and ant species diversity across select sites ofWestern Ghats, India. Acta Ecologica Sinica 39: 219–228.
  • Ito, F.; Yamane, S.; Eguchi, K.; Noerdjito, W. A.; Kahono, S.; Tsuji, K.; Ohkawara, K.; Yamauchi, K.; Nishida, T.; Nakamura, K. 2001. Ant species diversity in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, Indonesia, with descriptions of two new species of the genus Leptanilla (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Tropics 10:379-404.