Euponera mialy

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Euponera mialy
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Euponera
Species complex: sikorae
Species: E. mialy
Binomial name
Euponera mialy
(Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2013)

Pachycondyla mialy casent0497667 p 1 high.jpg

Pachycondyla mialy casent0497667 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

The only known specimens of E. mialy, two type workers, were collected from rotten logs at an elevation of 1100 m in the PN Ranomafana.

Identification

Rakotonirina and Fisher (2013) - Worker. Anterior margin of clypeus wide and straight, with median notch; eyes small, with seven to eight ommatidia; metanotal groove absent; posterior face of petiolar node with sparse pubescence and lacking numerous slender hairs; anterior face of first gastral segment not forming a shallow cavity; antennal scape and outer surface of each tibia covered with shorter, erect hairs.

One can confound E. mialy with Euponera nosy but workers of the former are smaller, have smaller eyes, no metanotal groove and no mesopleural suture while those of the latter are characterized by a larger body size, larger eyes, the presence of a mesopleural suture and a metanotal groove reduced to a dotted line.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -21.29° to -21.29°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Malagasy Region: Madagascar (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

Known only from the worker caste.

Images from AntWeb

Pachycondyla mialy casent0497667 h 2 high.jpg
Holotype of Euponera mialyWorker. Specimen code casent0497667. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

  • mialy. Pachycondyla mialy Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2013: 469, figs. 2, 9, 14, 49, 50, 51, 76 (w.) MADAGASCAR. Combination in Euponera: Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 87.

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

Description

Worker

(2 specimens): HW: 1.15, HL: 1.38–1.41, CI: 81–83, SL: 0.94–0.95, SI: 82, PW: 0.87–0.88, WL: 1.78, NH: 0.59–0.62, NL: 0.46–0.47, NW: 0.63–0.66, DNI: 137–140, LNI: 125–134.

Head distinctly longer than broad, widest at mid-length; posterior margin weakly medially excised; the dorsum with dense and fine reticulate punctures; anterior third of lateral surface punctate and sparsely punctulate posteriorly. Eyes very small, with at most eight ommatidia, and situated in anterior fourth of head. Antennal scape short, not extending beyond posterior cephalic border; length of erect hairs on scape about half of widest portion of scape. Anterior clypeal margin widely transverse and straight, with feeble median excision. Mandibles smooth and shiny between sparse punctures.

With mesosoma in dorsal view, metanotal groove lacking; in profile, dorsal outline of mesosoma simple, approximately a continuous line; posterolateral margin of propodeum covered with narrow lamellae, which project into a blunt angle near the mid-length at about the level of propodeal spiracle; mesopleural suture indistinct. Sculpture of promesonotum punctate; the punctures become more sparse toward the propodeum. With petiole in lateral view, node thick, posterior margin convex; in dorsal view, lateral margins rounding to a convex anterior face; posterior margin slightly excised medially; dorsum of node with scattered punctures. First gastral segment with straight anterior face; first and second gastral tergites laterally coarsely punctate or foveolate and dorsally smooth and shiny between punctures.

Body covered with erect golden pilosity; pubescence abundant on head dorsum, promesonotum, tip of gaster, and appendages, but absent or sparse on the rest of body dorsum. Integument glossy, reddish orange with orange apex of gaster and appendages.

Type Material

Holotype worker: Madagascar, Fianarantsoa, PN Ranomafana, Vatoharanana River, 4.1 km 231° SW Ranomafana, -21.29, 47.4333, 1100 m, montane rainforest, ex rotten log, 27–31 Mar 2003 (Fisher, Griswold et al.), collection code BLF08535, specimen code CASENT0497667 (California Academy of Sciences). Paratype: 1 worker with the same data as holotype but specimen coded as CASENT0009727 (CASC).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Rakotonirina J. C., and B. L. Fisher. 2013. Revision of the Pachycondyla sikorae species-group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Madagascar. Zootaxa 3683 (4): 447-485.