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Axinidris icipe
| Axinidris icipe | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Dolichoderinae |
| Genus: | Axinidris |
| Species: | A. icipe |
| Binomial name | |
| Axinidris icipe Snelling, R.R., 2007 | |
The type material was collected from fogging a Teclea nobilis.
Identification
Snelling (2007) - Antenna scape shaft, pronotal disc and all gastral terga without erect hairs; each frontal carina with a single erect hair and frons with none; medial carina subacute in profile; pronotal disc slightly shiny and distinctly coriarious.
This species may be confused with Axinidris kakamegensis, a species still known only from the type specimen. It shares with that species the extreme reduction in erect pilosity; i.e., the lack of erect hairs on the antennal scapes, frons, mesosomal dorsum and gastral terga. It differs from A. kakamegensis in the narrow head (longer than broad), the lack of strigulate sculpturing on the frons and malar area, and the lack of erect hairs between the frontal lobes; the clypeus has only a single pair of erect hairs (several present in A. kakamegensis). Axinidris icipe is also a notably smaller species in which the head width is less than 0.70 mm versus 0.97 mm in the type of A. kakamegensis.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 0.27° to -0.317°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Kenya (type locality).
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. |
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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
Species of Axinidris appear to nest exclusively within hollow plant stems, both living and dead, and in rotten wood. They are found in forested areas throughout the Afrotropical region, but are most abundant and diverse in the moist equatorial forests. Workers are primarily arboreal foragers, but may occasionally forage in ground litter.
Castes
Known only from the worker caste.
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- icipe. Axinidris icipe Snelling, R.R. 2007: 562, figs. 4, 14, 24 (w.) KENYA.
- Status as species: Hita Garcia, et al. 2013: 202.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Worker
(n = 10). HW 0.60-0.68; HL 0.73-0.77; SL 0.44-0.49; EL 0.14-0.17; OVD 0.32-0.33; PNW 0.37-0.42; PPW 0.26-0.28; WL 0.77-0.90. Indices. CI 84-90; CNI 60-80; OI 22-28; SI 67-76.
Worker description. Frons slightly shiny, weakly coriarious and densely micropunctate; gena similar but becoming smooth and shiny toward mandible; lower frontal area and clypeus dull and sharply sculptured. Frons and vertex without erect hairs; one erect hair on each frontal carina above level of antennal insertion; clypeus with one pair of long erect hairs; scape shaft without erect hairs.
Mesosomal dorsum without erect hairs. Pronotum slightly shiny and sharply coriarious. Mesonotum finely reticulopunctate; mesepisternum and side of propodeum similar but more sparsely punctate and interspaces shinier. Metanotal spiracles low and barely visible in profile.
Spiracular prominence of propodeum low and inconspicuous, spiracular opening directed distad; medial carina present on posterior half of dorsal face, continuing onto declivitous face, carina right-angular to obtuse in profile at summit; spines blunt in dorsal view, distance between their outer apices greater than width of propodeum at spiracles.
Gastral terga shiny between close fine piligerous punctures and without erect hairs.
Head and body dark blackish brown, lower half of clypeus, mandibles, most of scape yellowish red; meso- and metatarsi dirty whitish.
Type Material
Holotype worker and 20 worker paratypes, KENYA, Kakamega Dist., Isiukhu, Kakamega Forest (0.27°N 34.88°E), January 2003 (W. Freund and C. Schmidt), fogging Teclea nobilis. Holotype in Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History; paratypes in AKRI, The Natural History Museum, LACM, Museum of Comparative Zoology, NMKC, and United States National Museum of Natural History (National Museum of Natural History).
Etymology
The name is derived from the anagram for the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi; it here used as a noun in apposition.
References
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Hita Garcia F., E. Wiesel, G. Fischer. 2013. The ants of Kenya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)faunal overview, first species checklist, bibliography, accounts for all genera, and discussion on taxonomy and zoogeography. Journal of East African Natural History 101: 127-222.