Lepisiota mayri

Lepisiota mayri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Plagiolepidini
Genus:	Lepisiota
Species:	L. mayri
Binomial name
	Lepisiota mayri; Wachkoo, Bharti & Akbar, 2021

This species appears to be widespread on the Indian subcontinent and has typically been reported as Lepisiota capensis; specimens were collected by hand, beating vegetation and honey baiting.

Identification

The species is similar to Lepisiota modesta with which it shares its uniform black color and a medium-sized body. The distinguishing features include a combination of fine microreticulate sculpture on head and mesosoma, prominent propodeal spines and abundant erect setae on the body in L. mayri, versus a smooth and shiny body, reduced propodeal spines, and sparse erect setae in L. modesta.

Keys including this Species

Key to Indian species of Lepisiota

Distribution

India (as Lepisiota capensis; Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, West Bengal) (Bharti et al. 2016; Dad et al. 2019).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India (type locality), Sri Lanka.

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.

Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

mayri. Lepisiota mayri Wachkoo et al., 2021: 235, 243 (in key), figs. 19-21 (w.) INDIA (Himachal Pradesh).

Type Material

Holotype worker. India, Himachal Pradesh, Andretta, 32.0744° N, 76.5856° E, 940 m, 21.vi.2010.
Paratypes
- 12 workers, same data as for holotype
- 7 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Baijnath, 32.0527° N, 76.6500° E, 1125 m, 17.vi.2010
- 6 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Kotla, 31.8821° N, 75.9963° E, 500 m, 13.x.2008
- 2 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Nahan, 760 m, 30.5596° N, 77.2960° E, 27.viii.2009
- 1 worker, Himachal Pradesh, Renuka, 30.6083° N, 77.4615° E, 600 m, 8.v.2009
- 5 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Terrace, 31.9234° N, 75.9294° E, 420 m, 24.v.2009
- 3 workers, Uttarakhand, Forest Research Institute, 30.3416° N, 77.9903° E, 640 m, 2.ix.2009
- 8 workers, Uttarakhand, Rajaji Forest Area, 30.2483° N, 77.9878° E, 660 m, 21.v.2010
- 1 worker, Uttarakhand, Selaqui, 30.3720° N, 77.8605° E, 670 m, 24.v.2010, Aijaz A. Wachkoo leg

Description

Worker

Head subquadrate; slightly longer than wide, wider posteriorly than in front; lateral and posterior margins convex, with rounded posterolateral corners; clypeus carinate in the middle; anterior clypeal margin complete and convex; eyes broadly oval, weakly convex, placed at the middle-line of head, covering about onethird of lateral cephalic margin; three small ocelli present; antennal scape surpassing posterior head margin by about one-third its length. In lateral view promesonotum convex, metanotum low, almost straight; mesometanotum demarcated; metanotal area distinct; mesometanotum constricted; propodeum armed with a pair of posteriorly diverging thick blunt spines; propodeal declivity steep. Petiole upright, with angular sides, dorsally emarginate, armed with a pair of nearly straight spines pointing upward.

Overall body shiny; head weakly microreticulate to smooth without sculpture; pronotum, metanotum and propodeal dorsum coarsely microreticulate; mesonotum weakly microreticulate, mesometanotal suture crossribbed; propleuron sometimes weakly longitudinally striate; mesometapleuron coarsely longitudinally striate. Black; scape and tarsi yellow brown.

Measurements (n = 15): HL 0.65–0.73; HW 0.60– 0.69; EL 0.20–0.23; SL 0.68–0.77; PnW 0.42–0.50; ML 0.92–1.04; PFL 0.57–0.64; PFW 0.14–0.17 mm. Indices: CI 91–95; SI 111–116; REL 29–31.

Etymology

The species is named in honor of Gustav Mayr, author of L. capensis to which it has been a homonym.

References