Loboponera politula

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Loboponera politula
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Loboponera
Species: L. politula
Binomial name
Loboponera politula
Bolton & Brown, 2002

Loboponera politula casent0003093 profile 1.jpg

Loboponera politula casent0003093 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Collected from litter and soil in rainforest and cocoa.

Identification

Bolton & Brown (2002) - A member of the obeliscata species group. This species is smaller than Loboponera obeliscata and, beside lacking the unique subpyramidal shape of the petiole node that characterises obeliscata, has much shorter scapes.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 6.5° to 2.2825°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria (type locality).

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

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Loboponera politula casent0003094 head 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0003094 profile 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0003094 dorsal 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0003094 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0003094. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Loboponera politula casent0003095 head 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0003095 profile 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0003095 dorsal 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0003095 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0003095. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Loboponera politula casent0102323 head 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0102323 profile 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0102323 dorsal 1.jpgLoboponera politula casent0102323 label 1.jpg
Holotype of Loboponera politulaWorker. Specimen code casent0102323. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

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

  • politula. Loboponera politula Bolton & Brown, 2002: 5, figs. 2, 5 (w.) NIGERIA.

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

Description

Worker

Holotype. TL 3.7, HL 0.73, HW 0.64, CI 88, SL 0.52, SI 81, AL 1.09. Paratypes. TL 3.4–3.7, HL 0.70–0.73, HW 0.60–0.64, CI 85–90, SL 0.48–0.52, SI 79–82, AL 1.01–1.09 (3 measured). Characters of obeliscata group and the following. Eye minute, maximum diameter 0.03. Scape when laid back in full-face view distinctly fails to reach occipital margin. Propodeal lamella narrow at sides, petering out at dorsal angle and not continued onto dorsum; the latter separated from the declivity by an angle. Petiole in profile with anterior margin rising to a blunt anterodorsal angle, behind which the dorsum slopes posteriorly and is flat or very feebly convex. In posterior view the petiole node dorsum is broadly evenly rounded. First gastral tergite in profile or in dorsal view with its anterior face overhanging the helcium.

Type Material

Holotype worker, Nigeria: Ibadan, IITA no. 62, 16.vii.1974 (B.R. Critchley) (The Natural History Museum). Paratypes. 1 worker, Ivory Coast: Abidjan, Banco Nat. Pk, 18.iii.1977, primary forest litter (I. Löbl); 1 worker, Ghana: Mampong, 10.viii.1970 (P. Room); 1 worker, Nigeria: near Ibadan, 26.vii.1981, secondary forest, no. 10 (A. Russell-Smith) (BMNH, Museum of Comparative Zoology).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Bolton B., and W. L. Brown Jr. 2002. Loboponera gen. n. and a review of the Afrotropical Plectroctena genus group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. Entomology Series 71: 1-18.
  • Yeo K., S. Konate, S. Tiho, and S. K. Camara. 2011. Impacts of land use types on ant communities in a tropical forest margin (Oumé - Cote d'Ivoire). African Journal of Agricultural Research 6(2): 260-274.