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Issue: Vol. 4985 No. 3: 15 Jun. 2021
Type: Article
Published: 2021-06-15
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4985.3.7
Page range: 403–413
Abstract views: 887
PDF downloaded: 25

First record of the myrmicine ant genus Syllophopsis Santschi, 1915 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from India with description of a new species

Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Entomology Division, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir—191132 India
Department of Zoology and Environmental Sciences, Punjabi University Patiala, Punjab—147002 India
Zoology Research Team, Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Bankowa 9, 40-007 Katowice, Poland
Department of Zoology, Govt. Degree College, Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir—192303 India
Syllophopsis, ants, new species, worker caste, Western Ghats, India Hymenoptera

Abstract

Here we describe and illustrate Syllophopsis peetersi sp. nov. from Silent Valley National Park, a biodiversity hotspot region of the Western Ghats of India. The discovery also marks a first native report of the genus from the Indian subcontinent. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis was carried out to elucidate the general morphology and sensilla of the new species. The new species is similar to congeners from Madagascar, but with larger differences from species that occur elsewhere.

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