Leptogenys mayotte

Leptogenys mayotte
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Ponerinae
Tribe:	Ponerini
Genus:	Leptogenys
Species:	L. mayotte
Binomial name
Leptogenys mayotte Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2014 Specimen Labels

Leptogenys mayotte occurs only in the rainforest habitats of Mayotte Island. Nest series have been found only in rotten logs.

Identification

Rakotonirina and Fisher (2014) - Worker. Mandible subtriangular and tightly closing against margin of broadly triangular clypeus; eye located slightly toward frontal portion of head and not breaking outline of lateral cephalic border; dorsum of head reticulate-punctulate, promesonotal dorsum transversely striate, superimposed with sparse, small punctures.

Leptogenys mayotte is one of the largest species in the ponerine ant genus Leptogenys and can be separated from Leptogenys oswaldi of the incisa group by the combination of the following two characters: the eyes not breaking the outline of the sides of the head, and the presence of dense and fine transverse striation or rugulae on the pronotal dorsum. Leptogenys mayotte and Leptogenys oswaldi are easily distinguished from the remainder of the incisa group by the form of the mandibles, which are elongate, with convex inner margins, and capable of closing tightly against the triangular clypeus.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Malagasy Leptogenys

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -12.959° to -12.959°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Malagasy Region: Mayotte.

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

Explore Overview of MalLeptogenys biology  The Leptogenys genus page has more details about the general biology of ants in this genus. The following synopsis provided by Rakotonirina and Fisher (2014) offers an overview of the Malagasy Leptogenys: Recent surveys of arthropods in the Malagasy region uncovered a wealth of new species and showed that Leptogenys is one of the dominant ponerine ants widely distributed across all types of forest habitats. Workers are usually found foraging on the forest floor or in the leaf litter and only rarely on vegetation. They nest terrestrially under the soil, rocks, logs, or rootmat ground layers and in rotten logs, branches, in rotting bamboo, and rotten tree stumps. Most of the Malagasy species are endemic to Madagascar. In all Malagasy species, winged queens are absent, which limits their ability to disperse across the complex topography and various ecological barriers in the region. In the absence of alate queens, reproduction of Leptogenys in the region may be by fission, which enhances population viscosity and may result in important morphological variation across a species' geographic range. Though queens do not fly, males of Leptogenys are alate and are one of the most frequently collected ant genera in Malaise traps throughout Madagascar. Leptogenys exhibits a wide range of phenotypic diversity segregated both among spatially isolated habitats and along continuous environmental gradients.

Nomenclature

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

• mayotte. Leptogenys mayotte Rakotonirina & Fisher, 2014: 157, figs. 32A, 33B, 128, 177 (w.) MADAGASCAR.

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

Description

Worker

(6 specimens). HW: 1.80–1.96, HL: 2.23–2.32, CI: 80–84, SL: 1.98–2.08, SI: 104–113, PW: 1.15–1.24, WL: 3.05–3.17, PNH: 0.88–0.95, PNL: 0.80–0.88, PNW: 0.76–0.80, DNI: 91–97, LNI: 108–111.

Head narrowing from posterior of eyes to base of mandible; sides evenly rounding to posterior cephalic margin. Eye not breaking outline of side of head. Antennal scape relatively short (SI: 104–113). Clypeus with large, triangular anteromedian lobe bordered by semi-translucent yellow-orange membrane; median clypeal carina long and sharp. Mandible elongate, inner margin with blunt basal angle at midlength and outer margin slightly concave; blades tightly closing against clypeal margin; basal groove broadly impressed; preapical tooth present near sharp apical tooth. Hypostomal teeth not visible when head in full-face view. Metanotal groove impressed; with mesosoma in lateral view, propodeum high and short, posterolateral border without toothlike lobe; dorsal margin rounding to declivitous face. In profile, petiolar node approximately as high as broad; anterior face forming convex line with dorsal margin which in turn ends at a distinct angle to anteriorly inclined posterior face. Constriction between third and fourth abdominal segments feebly distinct. Mandible finely longitudinally striate, with small piligerous punctures. Dorsum of head finely rugulose anterior to level of eyes and toward center of head capsule, sculpture becoming densely and finely reticulate-punctulate posteriorly. Promesonotum finely transversely striate or rugulose, interspersed with scattered small punctures; propodeal dorsum with dense and fine transverse striae or rugae; declivitous surface transversely striate. Third and fourth abdominal tergites mostly smooth and shining apart from piligerous small pits. Erect hairs long on promesonotum, petiolar node and gaster, but suberect and short on propodeum; pubescence sparse or absent on dorsum of body. Black to dark brown species, apices of appendages and tip of gaster lighter in color.

Holotype Specimen Labels

Type Material

Holotype worker: Mayotte, Mont Chongui, -12.959, 45.1341, 380 m, rainforest, ex rotten log, 28 Nov 2007 (B.L. Fisher et al.) collection code: BLF18914, specimen code: CASENT0134302 (California Academy of Sciences). Paratypes: 3 workers with same data as holotype but specimen coded as: CASENT0134301, CASENT0134303, CASENT0132571 (CASC, The Natural History Museum).

References

• Rakotonirina, J.C. & Fisher, B.L. 2014. Revision of the Malagasy ponerine ants of the genus Leptogenys Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3836, 1-163.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Rakotonirina J. C., and B. L. Fisher. 2014. Revision of the Malagasy ponerine ants of the genus Leptogenys Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3836 (1): 001–163.