Lepisiota validiuscula

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Lepisiota validiuscula
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Plagiolepidini
Genus: Lepisiota
Species: L. validiuscula
Binomial name
Lepisiota validiuscula
(Emery, 1897)

Lepisiota validiuscula casent0280473 p 1 high.jpg

Lepisiota validiuscula casent0280473 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

This seems to be a very abundant species in western Yemen. It is recorded from East and South Africa but has not yet been found in Arabia outside Yemen. (Collingwood and Agosti 1996)

Seemingly uncommon but widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. Recorded and illustrated from Nigeria by Taylor (1978, as Acantholepis species T¹), who found it occasionally on cocoa, probably nesting in the soil and building tents of vegetable matter around Pseudococcids. (Taylor et al., 2018)

Identification

Collingwood and Agosti (1996) - HW 0.59-0.63; SI 125-135. easily distinguished from Lepisiota canescens by the stout black dorsal hairs.

Taylor et al. (2018) note that this species is somewhat stockier than the Lepisiota capensis type; propodeal prominences more pronounced; scape surpasses occiput by ca 1/2 its own length; longer coarser and more abundant erect pilosity; dark brown, appendages brown, scape ochreous-yellow.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 15.6625° to -34.18333°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Benin, Namibia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia (type locality), Zimbabwe.

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

Images from AntWeb

Lepisiota validiuscula casent0905155 p 1 high.jpgLepisiota validiuscula casent0905155 h 1 high.jpgLepisiota validiuscula casent0905155 d 1 high.jpgLepisiota validiuscula casent0905155 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Acantholepis capensis validiusculaWorker. Specimen code casent0905155. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

  • validiuscula. Acantholepis capensis var. validiuscula Emery, 1897e: 602 (w.) SOMALIA. Arnold, 1920a: 570 (q.m.). Combination in Lepisiota: Bolton, 1995b: 229. Raised to species: Collingwood & Agosti, 1996: 369.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics