Lasius himalayanus

Lasius himalayanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Lasiini
Genus:	Lasius
Section:	niger clade
Species group:	brunneus
Species complex:	brunneus
Species:	L. himalayanus
Binomial name
	Lasius himalayanus; Bingham, 1903 Specimen Labels

Pashaei Rad et al. (2018) found this species in Iran on the ground in a moderate rainfall area.

Identification

Seifert (2020) - Palaearctic Lasius s. str. species belonging to the Lasius brunneus species complex. Lasius himalayanus is most similar to Lasius brunneus but differs by narrower head (CL/CW900 1.072), longer scape (SL/CS900 0.921) and denser clypeal pubescence (sqPDCL900 4.66). Coloration is on average darker than in L. brunneus or Lasius silvaticus, with head, mesosoma and coxae usually dark brown and gaster blackish brown.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 30.144° to 30.144°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India (type locality), Pakistan.
Palaearctic Region: China, Iran.

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.

Biology

Castes

Liu, C. et al. 2020. Ants of the Hengduan Mountains, Figure 34, Lasius himalayanus.

Nomenclature

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

himalayanus. Lasius himalayanus Bingham, 1903: 340 (w.) INDIA. [First available use of Lasius niger r. brunneus var. himalayanus Forel, 1894c: 404; unavailable name.] Subspecies of brunneus: Forel, 1906b: 85; Emery, 1925b: 229; Menozzi, 1939a: 313. Junior synonym of brunneus: Wilson, 1955a: 47. Revived from synonymy: Seifert, 1992b: 8 [ostensibly as a subspecies of brunneus, but Seifert states, on the same page, that himalayanus may be a valid species and is treated as such here].

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

Seifert (2020) - Lasius brunneus, Lasius silvaticus and Lasius himalayanus are hypothesized to represent three cryptic species with different geographic distribution.

Description

Worker

Bingham (1903): Dark reddish brown, with an extremely minute silky pubescence giving the insect a shiny glabrous appearance; the mandibles, clypeus, anterior half of the cheeks, antennae and legs yellowish brown; pilosity almost entirely wanting, represented only by a few scattered, very short, erect pale hairs. Head much wider posteriorly than in front, broad and transverse across the occiput; mandibles stout, subtriangular, pruinose; the masticatory margin minutely dentate, the apical tooth not long or curved; clypeus proportionately large, convex and distinctly medially carinate; antennae somewhat short, the scape barely extending beyond the top of the head. Thorax short and stout, the basal portion of the metanotum flat, very short, only about one-quarter the length of the obliquely truncate apical portion, which is broad and fiat. Node of the pedicel low, slightly convex anteriorly; abdomen very large and massive, strongly convex above.

Length: 3 - 3.5 mm

Seifert (1992) - HL/HW (900) 1.074, SL/HL (900) 0.893 HL 1020.3 ± 87.6 (22), HL/HW 1.0513 ± 0.0190 (22), SL/HL 0.8787 ± 0.0211 (24), PDCL 22.08 ± 6.30 (22), nHS 0.0, nHHT 0.14 ± 0.35 (22), nBH 1.39 ± 1.24 (22), nUH 0.25 ± 0.69 (22), UHL/HL 0.0130 ± 0.0298 (22), PNHL/HLO.1060 ± 0.0100 (22).

See table 1 in Seifert 2020 for morphometric measurements, ratios, and functions.

Type Material

Seifert (2020) - 2 syntype workers, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève, labelled ”L. brunneus v. himalayana Forel, Himalaya LX/9) (Smythies)“, ”Typus“, ”ANTWEB CASENT 0911043“; 8 syntype workers labelled ”L. brunneus v. himalayana Forel, Himalaya 9000‘ (Smythies), XXX/22“, ”Cotypus“.

References

Bingham, C. T. 1903. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera, Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-wasps. London: Taylor and Francis, 506 pp. (page 340, worker described)
Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 229, Variety/race of brunneus)
Forel, A. 1906b. Les fourmis de l'Himalaya. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 42: 79-94 (page 85, Variety/race of brunneus)
Liu, C., Fischer, G., Hita Garcia, F., Yamane, S., Liu, Q., Peng, Y.Q., Economo, E.P., Guénard, B., Pierce, N.E. 2020. Ants of the Hengduan Mountains: a new altitudinal survey and updated checklist for Yunnan Province highlight an understudied insect biodiversity hotspot. ZooKeys 978, 1–171 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.978.55767).
Menozzi, C. 1939a. Formiche dell'Himalaya e del Karakorum raccolte dalla Spedizione italiana comandata da S. A. R. il Duca di Spoleto (1929). Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano 78: 285-345 (page 313, Variety/race of brunneus)
Pashaei Rad, S., Taylor, B., Torabi, R., Aram, E., Abolfathi, G., Afshari, R., Borjali, F., Ghatei, M., Hediary, F., Jazini, F., Heidary Kiah, V., Mahmoudi, Z., Safariyan, F., Seiri, M. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 64, 145-159 (doi:10.1080/09397140.2018.1442301).
Rasheed, M.T., Bodlah, I., Fareen, A.G., Wachkoo, A.A., Huang, X., Akbar, S.A. 2019. A checklist of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Pakistan. Sociobiology 66(3), 426-439 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v66i3.4330).
Seifert, B. 1992b. A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the ant subgenus Lasius s.str. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Abh. Ber. Naturkundemus. Görlitz 66(5): 1-67 (page 8, Revived from synonymy [ostensibly as a subspecies of brunneus, but Seifert states, on the same page, that himalayanus may be a valid species; so treated here].)
Seifert, B. 2020. A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the subgenus Lasius s.str. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Soil Organisms 92(1): 15-86 (doi:10.25674/so92iss1pp15).
Wilson, E. O. 1955a. A monographic revision of the ant genus Lasius. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.113:1-201. (page 47, Junior synonym of brunneus)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
Liu X. 2012. Taxonomy, diversity and spatial distribution characters of the ant family Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in southeastern Tibet. PhD Thesis 139 pages
Menozzi C. 1939. Formiche dell'Himalaya e del Karakorum raccolte dalla Spedizione italiana comandata da S. A. R. il Duca di Spoleto (1929). Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano. 78: 285-345.
Pashaei Rad S., B. Taylor, R. Torabi, E. Aram, G. Abolfathi, R. Afshari, F. Borjali, M. Ghatei, F. Hediary, F. Jazini, V. Heidary Kiah, Z. Mahmoudi, F. Safariyan, and M. Seiri. 2018. Further records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 64(2): 145-159.
Pisarski B. 1964. Fauna Mrowek Afganistanu. Bibliogr. k. 160-166, Nieoprawiony maszynopis pracy, Praca doktorska. Instytut Zoologiczny PAN, 1964, Bibliogr. p. 160-166
Pisarski B. 1967. Fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Afghanistan récoltées par M. Dr. K. Lindberg. Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 24: 375-425.
Rasheed M. T., I. Bodlah, A. G. Fareen, A. A. Wachkoo, X. Huang, and S. A. Akbar. 2019. A checklist of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Pakistan. Sociobiology 66(3): 426-439.
Seifert B. 1992. A taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic members of the ant subgenus Lasius s.str. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Abhandlungen und Berichte des Naturkundemuseums Görlitz 66(5): 1-67.
Tang Jue, Li Shen, Huang Enyou, Zhang Benyue. 1985. Notes on ants from Zhoushan Islands Zhejiang (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Zhejiang University (Agric.& Life Sci.) 3.