Technomyrmex gibbosus

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Technomyrmex gibbosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Genus: Technomyrmex
Species: T. gibbosus
Binomial name
Technomyrmex gibbosus
Wheeler, W.M., 1906

Technomyrmex gibbosus casent0280683 p 1 high.jpg

Technomyrmex gibbosus casent0280683 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels


Common Name
Hirafushi-ari
Language: Japanese

Widely distributed in Japan (Imai, Kihara, Kondoh, et al., 2003), T. gibbosus nests in dead twigs and dead bamboo stems. Nuptial flights take place on September. (Japanese Ant Image Database)

Identification

Bolton (2007) - A member of the Technomyrmex gibbosus group. Its closest relative appears to be Technomyrmex vexatus, the current known distribution of which is restricted to Morocco. The two are easily separated as in gibbosus the eyes are larger and located distinctly farther forward on the head capsule than in vexatus (OI 22 - 25, EPI 68 - 76); also the posterior margin of the head in vexatus is shallowly impressed in full-face view, without a median indentation such as occurs in gibbosus. Finely microreticulate sculpture is well developed and conspicuous on the dorsal head of gibbosus, but in vexatus this cephalic sculpture is semi-effaced, very weak and superficial.

These two species are separated by an enormous distance and it is interesting to speculate if they shared an immediate common ancestor, or if they are the remnants of a fairly distinctive species group that once extended across the width of the southern Palaearctic, or if their shared characters have been acquired convergently.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

This species is distributed from Hokkaido to Kyushu, but very rare in Hokkaido (known from one record only) (Onoyama, 1989).

This species has been recorded from North Korea (Radchenko, 2005) but to the best of my knowledge has not yet been found in China, where its presence should be expected (Bolton 2007).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 37.87444444° to 32.747147°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Malaysia.
Palaearctic Region: Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Japan (type locality), Republic of Korea.

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

Flight Period

X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

 Notes: Japan.

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • gibbosus. Technomyrmex gibbosus Wheeler, W.M. 1906c: 319, pl. 41, fig. 4 (w.) JAPAN. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1951: 205 (l.). See also: Bolton, 2007a: 81.

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

Description

Bolton (2007) - TL 2.4 - 3.0, HL 0.63 - 0.68, HW 0.54 - 0.61, SL 0.50 - 0.54, PW 0.38 - 0.42, WL 0.76 - 0.84 (10 measured). Indices: CI 86 - 91, SI 85 - 93, OI 27 - 29 EPI 50 - 58, DTI 124 - 130.

Dorsum of head behind clypeus entirely lacks setae. Anterior clypeal margin with an insignificant median indentation in the apron. In full-face view the posterior margin of the head with a median indentation and the sides shallowly convex. Eyes of moderate size. located well in front of the midlength and their outer margins usually just break the outline of the sides in full-face view. Dorsum of mesosoma, and declivity of propodeum, entirely lack setae. With mesosoma in profile the mesonotal dorsal outline convex, consisting of a shallowly convex anterior section that curves broadly and evenly into a more sloping shallow convexity that descends to the metanotal groove. Propodeum in profile with a short convex dorsal surface that rounds into the declivity; the two surfaces not separated by a sharp angle. Gastral tergites 1 - 3 without setae; gastral tergite 4 with 1 - 2 pairs present. Scapes and tibiae without setae. Head and mesosoma medium to dark brown, often with a reddish tint; gaster about the same colour to dark brown. Legs dull yellow to yellowish brown.

Type Material

Bolton (2007) - Syntype workers, Japan: Yamanaka (Suruga), 1100 ft, 22.iii.l905, no. 2951 (H Sauter) (Museum of Comparative Zoology) [examined]. 16 worker syntypes of gibbosus are mounted on three pins. Two of these pins hold 15 of the workers (on three cards) and they bear only the data: Japan (N Sauter). The third pin has only one specimen but carries the fuller data recorded above.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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  • Park, Seong, Joon and Byung, and Kim, Jin. 2002. Faunal Comparison of Ants among Cheongsando and Other Islands of South Sea in Korea. Korean Jornal of Entomology. 32(1):7-12.
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  • Sakai H. 2002. Reproductive flight season of Japanese ants. Ari 26: 33-39.
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