Hagensia peringueyi saldanhae

Hagensia peringueyi saldanhae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Hagensia
Species:	H. peringueyi
Subspecies:	H. peringueyi saldanhae
Trinomial name
Hagensia peringueyi saldanhae Arnold, 1951

At a Glance

• Gamergate

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Hagensia species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -32.8° to -34.15°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: South Africa (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.

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.

Castes

In addition to gamergates, both winged and wingless males occur in H. peringueyi saldanhae (C. Peeters & H. Robertson unpubl.). Over 50 nests were excavated, in most months of the year. Both winged and wingless males were found in pitfalls during November-April. Thorax structure of winged and wingless males is much the same, hence it is not appropriate to describe the latter as ergatoid males, because their thorax is not reduced and worker-like (confirmed by SEM)

Importantly, no winged queens are known in this species, and our dissections revealed one gamergate per nest

Nomenclature

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

• saldanhae. Hagensia peringueyi r. saldanhae Arnold, 1951: 53, fig. 4 (w.) SOUTH AFRICA. Combination in Pachycondyla: Brown, in Bolton, 1995b: 309; in Hagensia: Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 92.

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

Description

The race saldanhae differs from the type of Hagensia peringueyi as follows:

Puncturation of the head larger, clearly resolvable under a magnification of 32 diameters (45 - 50 diameters in the type). Sides of the head and pronotum less convex. The fovea on the mandibles is very shallow and transverse in position, and the inner half of the mandibles is more strongly punctured. The posterior third of the epinotal dorsum is not deeply grooved, i.e. transversely concave, as in the type, since the raised lateral margins of the declivity are not continued over the dorsum. The specimens are also smaller, 9.3 to 9.5 mm. long. The very fine pubescence on the whole body is brownish as in peringueyi i. sp. The type of the subspecies is in the South African Museum. In the same collection there is also an apterous male, without any traces of wing-bases, from Darling, C.P. It is labelled E. (Mesoponera) peringueyi, probably by the late Mr. Lightfoot. In the absence of workers from the same locality I hesitate to confirm that determination.

References

• Arnold, G. 1951. The genus Hagensia Forel (Formicidae). J. Entomol. Soc. South. Afr. 14: 53-56 (page 53, fig. 4 worker described)
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1995a. [Untitled. Taxonomic changes in Pachycondyla attributed to Brown.] Pp. 302-311 in: Bolton, B. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 309, Combination in Pachycondyla)
• 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).