Lepisiota sericea

Lepisiota sericea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Plagiolepidini
Genus:	Lepisiota
Species:	L. sericea
Binomial name
	Lepisiota sericea; (Forel, 1892) Specimen Labels

This species seems widespread in India. Specimens were hand collected, under stones, from tree trunks and the ground. (Wachkoo et al., 2021)

Identification

Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HW 0.63; SI 158. This is a dull sculptured species also characterized by its wide simply-angled petiole about 0.3 times HW. The mesosoma is reddish.

Sharaf et al. (2020) - In their key, Collingwood and Agosti (1996) stated that “this species appeared bicolored with reddish mesosoma lighter than gaster, or entirely reddish." The type material (CASENT0909885) is uniformly dark brown.

Wachkoo et al. (2021) - Lepisiota sericea is a medium to large-sized ant which can be distinguished from the very similar species Lepisiota integra by a combination of a dark brown body, smoothly curved sides of the petiole and a narrow, rounded petiolar dorsum. L. integra has a reddish-brown body, angular sides of the petiole and an emarginate petiolar dorsum with teeth-like apical corners.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Afghanistan, India (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand), Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan (Kuznetsov-Ugamsky 1929; Pisarski 1967; Ghahari et al. 2011; Bharti et al. 2016; Rasheed et al. 2020; Wachkoo et al., 2021).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 32.7009° to 24.7461°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Saudi Arabia.
Oriental Region: India (type locality), Pakistan.
Palaearctic Region: Afghanistan, Oman.

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

Mortazavi et al. (2015) reported this species to be associated with the aphid Pterochloroides persicae Cholodkovsky in Iran.

Bodlah et al. (2017) found Lepisiota sericea and Camponotus compressus to be associated with the psyllid Trioza fletcheri minor on the tree Terminalis arjuna in areas around Pothwar, Pakistan.

Castes

Nomenclature

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

sericea. Acantholepis frauenfeldi var. sericea Forel, 1892a: 41 (diagnosis in key) (w.) INDIA. Combination in Lepisiota: Bolton, 1995b: 228. Raised to species: Pisarski, 1967: 408.

Type Material

Syntype, 1 worker, Shoallihs[?], India, Rogers[?], MCZC #21403, Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Description

Worker

Wachkoo et al. (2021): Head subrectangular; longer than wide, slightly narrowed anteriorly; lateral and posterior margins convex, posterolateral corners rounded; clypeus medially subcarinate; anterior clypeal margin complete and convex; eyes subglobulose, convex, projecting beyond cephalic lateral margins, covering one-third of lateral cephalic margin, placed at posterior half of head; three ocelli present; antennal scape surpassing posterior head margin by about half its length. In lateral view pronotum convex, mesometanotum strongly constricted, lower than pronotum and propodeum, giving mesosoma a dumbbell shape; mesometanotum demarcated; metanotal area distinct; propodeum armed with a pair of teeth diverging posteriorly; propodeal declivity steep. Petiole upright, with smoothly curved sides, dorsally rounded and narrow, without teeth or spines.

Body dull, overall feebly microreticulate, gastral sculpturing even feebler. Body covered with sparse erect setae on head, pronotum and gaster; setae on gaster usually restricted to venter and segmental margins; pubescence very fine and sparse, most visible on head and gaster; almost absent on mesosoma; antennal funiculus with appressed to decumbent pubescence. Color uniformly dark brown to black; antenna, mandible and tarsi brown.

Measurements (n = 6): HL 0.66–0.84; HW 0.59– 0.74; EL 0.20–0.25; SL 0.99–1.08; PnW 0.36–0.52; ML 1.02–1.27; PFL 0.77–0.97; PFW 0.14–0.18 mm. Indices: CI 85–90; SI 146–152; REL 29–30

References

Bodlah, I., Bodlah, M.A., Rasheed, M.T., Akhter, T., Aihetasham, A., Yousaf, M. 2017. New distributional records of psyllid, Trioza fletcheri minor Crawford, 1912 and record of its first association with two ant’s species in Pothwar. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Biology 5: 1-6.
Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 228, Combination in Lepisiota)
Borowiec, L. 2014. Catalogue of ants of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and adjacent regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Genus (Wroclaw) 25(1-2): 1-340.
Collingwood, C. A. and D. Agosti. 1996. Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (part 2). Fauna Saudi Arabia. 15:300-385.
Forel, A. 1892a. Notes myrmécologiques. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 36: 38-43 (page 41, (diagnosis in key) worker described)
Harshana, A., Dey, D. 2022. Taxonomic studies on the ant genus Lepisiota Santschi 1926 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) in India, with description of four new species. Oriental Insects 1–34 (doi:10.1080/00305316.2022.2125096).
Mortazavi ZS, Sadeghi H, Aktac N, Depa Ł and Fekrat L, 2015. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and their aphid partners (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Mashhad region, Razavi Khorasan Province, with new records of aphids and ant species for Fauna of Iran. Halteres.6. 4-12.
Pisarski, B. 1967a. Fourmis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) d'Afghanistan récoltées par M. Dr. K. Lindberg. Ann. Zool. (Warsaw) 24: 375-425 (page 408, Raised to species)
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).
Sharaf, M.R., Aldawood, A.S., Mohamed, A.A. and F. Hita Garcia. 2020. The genus Lepisiota Santschi, 1926 of the Arabian Peninsula with the description of a new species, Lepisiota elbazi sp. nov. from Oman, an updated species identification key, and assessment of zoogeographic affinities. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 76:127–152. (doi:10.3897/jhr.76.50193).
Subedi, I.P., Budha, P.B., Bharti, H., Alonso, L. 2020. An updated checklist of Nepalese ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1006, 99–136 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1006.58808).
Wachkoo, A.A., Bharti, H., Akbar, S.A. 2021. Taxonomic review of the ant genus Lepisiota Santschi, 1926 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) from India. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 70(2): 227–245 (doi:10.20363/BZB-2021.70.2.227).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Brown W. L., Jr. 1959. Appendix G. Insecta collected by the expedition. Pp. 229-230 in: Field, H. 1959. An anthropological reconnaissance in West Pakistan, 1955, with appendixes on the archaeology and natural history of Baluchistan and Bahawalpur. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 52:i-xii,1-332.
Kuznetsov-Ugamsky N. N. 1929. Die Gattung Acantholepis in Turkestan. Zoologischer Anzeiger 82: 477-492.
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.
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.
Sharaf M. R., B. L. Fisher, H. M. Al Dhafer, A. Polaszek, and A. S. Aldawood. 2018. Additions to the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Oman: an updated list, new records and a description of two new species. Asian Myrmecology 10: e010004