Euponera sakishimensis

Euponera sakishimensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Euponera
Species:	E. sakishimensis
Binomial name
Euponera sakishimensis (Terayama, 1999)

Common Name
Aka-kebuka-hari-ari
Language:	Japanese

Euponera sakishimensis nests in soil. Single foraging workers are often observed on the ground at forest margins (Japanese Ant Image Database).

Identification

Terayama (1999) - Total length of workers around 4.5-5 mm. Mandible with a basal pit. General shape and body size close to Euponera pilosior, but the color generally lighter. Subpetiolar process triangular. The latter is the major feature distinguishing this species from Euponera pilosior.

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: Japan (type locality).

Japan (Nansei Is (Miyako I. and the Yaeyama Is)).

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.

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.

Nomenclature

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

• sakishimensis. Pachycondyla sakishimensis Terayama, 1999a: 10, figs. 6-8 (w.) JAPAN. 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

Holotype: HL 0.78 mm; HW 0.75 mm; SL 0.58 mm; CI 97; SI 77; WL 1.18 mm; PW 0.70 mm; PNL 0.24 mm; PH 0.60 mm; DPW 0.58 mm; TL 4.5 mm. Head almost square in frontal view, slightly longer than wide, with almost straight posterior margin in full face view. Mandible with a small pit at near base. Antennal scape just reaching posterior margin of head. Eye small, with about 10 facets. Dorsal outline of mesosoma largely straight; posterodorsal corner forming an obtuse angle in profile; dorsal disc of propodeum 1.5 times as long as wide. Petiolar node thin and high; anterior and posterior margins converging to dorsum; dorsal outline acutely convex; width of node in dorsal view 0.9 times dorsal width of pronotum. Subpetiolar process triangular, with a ventral corner. Head, mesosoma and gaster strongly microreticulate; petiole, antennal scape and legs moderately microreticulate. Head, mesosoma, petiole and gaster covered with abundant whitish pubecences. Dorsa of head, mesosoma, petiole, and gaster with moderate erect hairs; the hairs also present on antennal scape. Head blackish brown; mesosoma, petiole and gaster dark reddish brown; antenna, mandible and legs reddish brown.

Type Material

Holotype. Worker, Urauchi, Iriomote-jima, Okinawa Pref., 30. III. 1985, M. Terayama leg. Museum of Nature and Human Activities. Paratypes. 3 workers, same data as holotype; 3 workers, Ohara, Iriomote-jima, Okinawa Pref., 17. III. 1978, M. Terayama leg.; 5 workers, Mt. Omoto-dake, Ishigaki-jima, Okinawa Pref., 13. VIII. 1978, M. Terayama leg.; 1 worker, Taketomi-jima, Okinawa Pref., 29. VII. 1977, M. Terayama leg.

References

• Terayama, M. 1999a. Taxonomic studies of the Japanese Formicidae, Part 4. Three new species of Ponerinae. Memoirs of the Myrmecological Society of Japan. 1: 7-15. (page 10, figs. 6-8 worker described)
• Esteves, F.A., Fisher, B.L. 2021. Corrieopone nouragues gen. nov., sp. nov., a new Ponerinae from French Guiana (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1074, 83–173 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1074.75551).
• Schmidt, C.A. & Shattuck, S.O. 2014. The higher classification of the ant subfamily Ponerinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of ponerine ecology and behavior. Zootaxa 3817, 1–242 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3817.1.1).
• Yamane, S., Hosoishi, S., Ito, F. 2024. Taxonomic study on the queens of the Japanese ponerine genera, with a redescription of Ectomomyrmex horni restituted as a valid species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 64(2): 249–267 (doi:10.37520/aemnp.2024.017).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Terayama M. 1999. Taxonomic studies of the Japanese Formicidae, Part 4. Three new species of Ponerinae. Memoirs of the Myrmecological Society of Japan 1: 7-15.
• Terayama M., S. Kubota, and K. Eguchi. 2014. Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, 278 pp.
• Yamane S., S. Ikudome, and M. Terayama. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp, 138-317.
• Yamane S.; Ikudome, S.; Terayama, M. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp138-317.