Leptanilla lamellata

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Leptanilla lamellata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Leptanillinae
Tribe: Leptanillini
Genus: Leptanilla
Species: L. lamellata
Binomial name
Leptanilla lamellata
Bharti & Kumar, 2012

Leptanilla lamellata antweb1008004 p 1 high.jpg

Leptanilla lamellata antweb1008004 d 1 high.jpg

The only known specimens of this species were collected from a Kotla village in the Shivalik Range of the north-western Himalaya. This area has patchy forest with a semi-arid type of environment. The specimens were collected from soil in a depth of 2–3 cm. The soil was porous and covered with a thin layer of leaf litter.

Identification

Bharti & Kumar (2012) - In a few specimens the lamella of the subpetiolar process is narrow and neither very prominent nor wide. Leptanilla lamellata is a very uncommon species. It is close to Leptanilla escheri, but can be separated from the latter by the following combination of attributes: in L. lamellata posterior head margin concave; sides of pronotum weakly convex in dorsal view, petiole with an anteroventral lamellate subpetiolar process, ventral face of lamellate process weakly rounded; subpetiolar process with anteroventral and posteroventral corner obtusely angled, posterior face of subpetiolar process weakly concave; petiolar and postpetiolar spiracle almost equal in diameter, PPTI 73.68–76.47, however, in L. escheri posterior head margin weakly concave or almost straight; sides of pronotum strongly convex in dorsal view; petiole with a weak subpetiolar process without lamella; petiolar process convex and anteriorly and posteriorly oblique; petiolar spiracle large and almost 2 times the size of the postpetiolar spiracle, PPTI 84.62–85.71.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 31.882108° to 31.8821°.

 
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

Images from AntWeb

Leptanilla lamellata antweb1008004 p 2 high.jpg
Holotype of Leptanilla lamellataWorker. Specimen code antweb1008004. Photographer H. Bharti, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by PUN, Punjabi University, Patiala, India.


  • Qian et al. (2024), Fig. 4: Leptanilla lamellata holotype worker. (A, D) head in full-face view; (B, E) body in lateral view; (C, F) body in dorsal view. (A - C) illustrations drawn from images, from AntWeb (2023); (D - F) images from AntWeb (2023), ANTWEB 1008004, photos by Himender Bharti.

Nomenclature

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

  • lamellata. Leptanilla lamellata Bharti & Kumar, 2012: 620, figs. 1-4 (w.) INDIA.

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

Description

Worker

Measurements. Holotype (worker). HL 0.38, HW 0.30, SL 0.19, ML 0.09, MSL 0.48, PW 0.21, PTL 0.13, PTNL 0.10, PPTL 0.14, PPTNL 0.12, PTW 0.11, PPTW 0.14, PTH 0.14, PPTH 0.19, CI 78.95, DPPTI 100, PI 110, PPTI 73.68, SI 63.33.

Paratypes (worker). HL 0.37–0.38, HW 0.28–0.30, SL 0.18–0.19, ML 0.06–0.09, MSL 0.46–0.48, PW 0.20–0.21, PTL 0.12–0.14, PTNL 0.10, PPTL 0.13–0.14, PPTNL 0.12, PTW 0.11, PPTW 0.13–0.14, PTH 0.13–0.14, PPTH 0.17–0.19, CI 75.68–78.95, DPPTI 100, PI 110, PPTI 73.68–76.47, SI 60.00–67.86 (9 specimens measured).

Head longer than wide, dorsum flattened, sides convex; posterior head margin concave; posterolateral corners bluntly prominent; head without spots near its anterior margin; mandibles narrow, slender and bowed inwardly, masticatory margin with 3 teeth, all teeth present at equal distances, apical tooth large, acute, median and basal teeth smaller and acute; clypeus protruding forward, anterior margin concave, apically bilobed; eyes absent; antennae short, 12-segmented, scape ending by ¾ of its length and ½ of head length before posterior head margin; 1st funicular segment longer than wide; 2nd funicular segment longer than wide, thin at its base and narrowly attached to 1st funicular segment; funicular segments 3–6 wider than long; funicular segments 9–10 thick, quadrate and as wide as long; apical segment longer and equal in length to the two preceeding segments together; mesosoma elongated, its dorsum flat in lateral view, distinctly shorter and narrower than the gaster; pronotum slightly raised, almost as wide as long, and its sides weakly convex in dorsal view; promesonotal suture wide and shallow; mesonotum wider than long and laterally constricted in dorsal view; metanotal groove absent; dorsum of propodeum longer than its declivitous face, posterodorsal corners rounded; declivitous face convex; fore tibiae and all femora swollen; basitarsus of fore legs without a projection on its ventral anterior margin; mid and hind tibiae with a simple spur; petiolar node almost as wide as long, in dorsal view longitudinally and transversally weakly convex with rounded lateral sides, anterior face vertical; petiole with an anteroventral lamellate subpetiolar process; ventral face of lamellate process weakly rounded, anteroventral and posteroventral corner obtusely angled; posterior face of subpetiolar process weakly concave; postpetiolar node longer and wider than petiolar node, in lateral view anterior face lower and convex, dorsum weakly convex, rounded anteriorly and laterally; subpostpetiolar process large, wide, convex ventrally, anterior and posterior faces vertical and parallel; petiolar and postpetiolar spiracles almost equal in diameter; gaster elongate oval, sting long, protruding, with the bulb slightly wide than the shaft.

Body smooth and shiny with fine punctures on head and dorsum of mesosoma; internal side of mandibles with 2–4 setae; body covered with abundant decumbent to appressed pubescence and short suberect hairs along with a few long suberect hairs on mandibles, clypeus and apex of the gaster; color brownish yellow.

Type Material

Etymology

The specific epithet refers to the ventral lamellate process of the petiole.

References