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Lepisiota incisa
| Lepisiota incisa | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Formicinae |
| Tribe: | Plagiolepidini |
| Genus: | Lepisiota |
| Species: | L. incisa |
| Binomial name | |
| Lepisiota incisa (Forel, 1913)
| |
| At a Glance | • Supercolonies |
Identification
Sharaf et al. (2020) - Collingwood (1985)’s key mentioned that the mesosomal pilosity is restricted to the pronotum or nil but examination of the type material (CASENT0909876) reveals abundant mesosomal and body pilosity.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 20.183333° to -33.4°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Democratic Republic of Congo (type locality), Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia.
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. |
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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
Sorger et al. (2016) - Lepisota incisa has been reported from Kruger National Park, South Africa, where it is thought to have arrived in the 1990s (Sithole et al. 2010). There the species is most abundant in habitats associated with human disturbance and development, where it is behaviorally dominant to all other ants, including endemics. Judging from the slight, if any, aggressive response toward ants transferred between sites hundreds of kilometers apart around Kruger (Caldera 2004, cited in Sithole et al. 2010), it appears that Kruger is occupied by a single supercolony—presumably derived from the initial invading colony that arrived and spread widely within a region previously uninhabited by the species. At a single site, however, the workers were hostile to con-specifics from elsewhere in the park (Sithole et al. 2010), indicating that a second supercolony may have become established.
Castes
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- incisa. Acantholepis capensis r. incisa Forel, 1913b: 338 (w.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. Combination in Lepisiota: Bolton, 1995b: 227. Raised to species: Collingwood, 1985: 295.
Description
References
- Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 227, Combination in Lepisiota)
- Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
- Collingwood, C. A. 1985. Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna Saudi Arab. 7: 230-302 (page 295, Raised to species)
- Forel, A. 1913b. Formicides du Congo Belge récoltés par MM. Bequaert, Luja, etc. Rev. Zool. Afr. (Bruss.) 2: 306-351 (page 338, worker described)
- Sharaf, M.R., Aldawood, A.S., Mohamed, A.A. and F. Hita Garcia. 2020. The genus Lepisiota Santschi, 1926 of the Arabian Peninsula with the description of a new species, Lepisiota elbazi sp. nov. from Oman, an updated species identification key, and assessment of zoogeographic affinities. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 76:127–152. (doi:10.3897/jhr.76.50193).
- Sithole H, Smit IP, Parr CL (2010) Preliminary investigations into a potential ant invader in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Afr J Ecol 48:736–743
- Sorger, D.M., Booth, W., Wassie Eshete, A., Lowman, M., Moffett, M.W. 2016. Outnumbered: a new dominant ant species with genetically diverse supercolonies in Ethiopia. Insectes Sociaux (doi:10.1007/s00040-016-0524-9)
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
- Medler J. T. 1980: Insects of Nigeria - Check list and bibliography. Mem. Amer. Ent. Inst. 30: i-vii, 1-919.
- Prins A. J. 1964. Revised list of the ants collected in the Kruger National Park. Koedoe 7: 77-93.
- Weber N. A. 1943. The ants of the Imatong Mountains, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 93: 263-389.
- Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004