Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
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: 861
PDF downloaded: 24

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.

References

  1. Aldawood, A.S. (2016) Ants of the genus Syllophopsis Santschi, 1915 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Saudi Arabia with descrip-tion of a new species. Zoology in the Middle East, 62 (2), 137–143.
  2. https://doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2016.1173898
  3. AntWeb (2021) Bolton World Catalog. Available from: https://www.antweb.org/description.do?subfamily=myrmicinae&genus=syllophopsis&rank=genus&project=worldants (ac-cessed 18 May 2021)
  4. Bharti, H. & Akbar, S.A. (2013a) A new species of the ant genus Lordomyrma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) from India. Myrmecological News, 18: 149–152.
  5. Bharti, H. & Akbar, S.A. (2013b) Taxonomic studies on the ant genus Cerapachys Smith (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from India. ZooKeys, 336, 79–103.
  6. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.336.5719
  7. Bharti, H. & Akbar, S.A. (2013c) Taxonomic studies on the ant genus Strumigenys Smith, 1860 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with report of two new species and five new records including a tramp species from India. Sociobiology, 64 (4), 387–396.
  8. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v60i4.387-396
  9. Bolton, B. (1987) A review of the Solenopsis genus-group and revision of Afrotropical Monomorium Mayr (Hymenoptera: For-micidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology, 54, 263–452.
  10. Dad, J.M., Akbar, S.A., Bharti, H. & Wachkoo, A.A. (2019) Community structure and ant species diversity across select sites of Western Ghats, India. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 39, 219–228.
  11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chnaes.2018.12.008
  12. Dias, R.K.S., Guénard, B., Akbar, S.A., Economo, E.P., Udayakantha, W.S. & Wachkoo, A.A. (2020) The Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Sri Lanka: a taxonomic research summary and updated checklist. ZooKeys, 967, 1–142.
  13. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.967.54432
  14. Forel, A. (1907) Formicides du Musée National Hongrois. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici, 5, 1–42.
  15. Heterick, B. (2001) Revision of the Australian ants of the genus Monomorium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Invertebrate Taxon-omy, 15 (3), 353–459.
  16. https://doi.org/10.1071/IT00003
  17. Heterick, B. (2006) A revision of the Malagasy ants belonging to genus Monomorium Mayr, 1855 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proceedings California Academy of Sciences, 57, 69–202.
  18. Keller, R.A. (2011) A phylogenetic analysis of ant morphology (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with special reference to the ponero-morph subfamilies. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 355, 1–90.
  19. https://doi.org/10.1206/355.1
  20. Santschi, F. (1915) Nouvelles fourmis d’Afrique. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 84, 244–282.
  21. Sharaf, M.R. & Aldawood, A.S. (2013) First occurrence of the Monomorium hildebrandti- Group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in the Arabian Peninsula, with description of a new species M. kondratieffi n. sp. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 115, 75–84.
  22. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.115.1.75
  23. Sharaf, M.R. (2007) Monomorium dentatum sp. n., a new ant species from Egypt (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) related to the fos-sulatum-group. Zoology in the Middle East, 41, 93–98.
  24. https://doi.org/10.1080/09397140.2007.10638231
  25. Sharaf, M.R., Gotzek, D., Guénard, B., Fisher, B.L., Aldawood, A.S., Al Dhafer, H.M. & Mohamed, A.A. (2020) Molecular phylo-genetic analysis and morphological reassessments of thief ants identify a new potential case of biological invasions. Scien-tific Reports, 10, 12040.
  26. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69029-4
  27. Sharaf, M.R., Mohamed, A.A., Boudinot, B.E., Wetterer, J.K., Hita Garcia, F., Al Dhafer, H.M. & Aldawood, A.S. (2021) Mon-omorium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Arabian Peninsula with description of two new species, M. heggyi sp. n. and M. khalidi sp. n. PeerJ, 9, e10726.
  28. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10726
  29. Wachkoo, A.A., van Steenis, J., Rather, Z.A., Sengupta, J. & Banerjee, D. (2019) First record of the genus Spilomyia (Diptera, Syr-phidae) from the Oriental region. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 43, 239–242.
  30. https://doi.org/10.3906/zoo-1811-27
  31. Ward, P.S., Brady, S.G., Fisher, B.L. & Schultz, T.R. (2015) The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology, 40, 61–81.
  32. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12090
  33. Way, M.J. & Bolton, B. (1997) Competition between ants for coconut palm nesting sites. Journal of Natural History, 31 (3), 439–455.
  34. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939700770221
  35. Wetterer, J.K. (2020) First North American records of the Old-World tramp Ant Syllophopsis sechellensis (Hymenoptera: Formi-cidae). Sociobiology, 67 (3), 478–480.
  36. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v67i3.5014
  37. Wetterer, J.K. & Sharaf, M.R. (2017) Worldwide distribution of Syllophopsis sechellensis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist, 100, 281–285.
  38. https://doi.org/10.1653/024.100.0224