Loboponera trica

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Loboponera trica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Loboponera
Species: L. trica
Binomial name
Loboponera trica
Bolton & Brown, 2002

Loboponera trica casent0003113 profile 1.jpg

Loboponera trica casent0003113 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Specimens have been collected in rainforest from litter and dead wood.

Identification

Bolton & Brown (2002) - The only member of the trica species group. L. trica is a very distinctive small species that is easily recognised by its lack of standing hairs coupled with the presence everywhere of uniform fine dense sculpture.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 2.08° to 1.383333333°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Ivory Coast (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

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Loboponera trica casent0102322 head 1.jpgLoboponera trica casent0102322 profile 1.jpgLoboponera trica casent0102322 dorsal 1.jpgLoboponera trica casent0102322 label 1.jpg
Holotype of Loboponera tricaWorker. Specimen code casent0102322. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

  • trica. Loboponera trica Bolton & Brown, 2002: 6, fig. 6 (w.) IVORY COAST.

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

Description

Worker

Holotype. TL 3.0, HL 0.59, HW 0.55, CI 93, SL 0.43, SI 78, AL 0.90. Paratype. TL 3.0, HL 0.59, HW 0.55, CI 93, SL 0.47, SI 85, AL 0.90. Characters of trica group and the following. Maximum diameter of eye 0.02. Scape when laid back not reaching occipital margin. Dorsum of head opaque, extremely densely finely striolate-punctulate and with larger shallow foveolae that are overlaid and partially masked by the finer components of the sculpture. Alitrunk and gaster similarly sculptured, in places with the foveolae more conspicuous.

Type Material

Holotype worker, Ivory Coast: Abidjan, Banco Nat. Pk, 14.iii.1977, dead wood sample (I. Löbl) (The Natural History Museum). Paratype. 1 worker with same data as holotype (Museum of Comparative Zoology).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Fisher B. L. 2006. Boloponera vicans gen.n. and sp.n. and two new species of the Plectroctena genus group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8: 111-118.