Myopias menba

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Myopias menba
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Myopias
Species: M. menba
Binomial name
Myopias menba
Xu, Z. & Liu, 2012

Xu Burwell & Nakamura 2014-6Myopias-menba hal.jpg

Xu Burwell & Nakamura 2014-6Myopias-menba had.jpg

There types were collected as foragers from the ground in secondary rain forest.

Identification

Xu & Liu (2012) - This new species is close to Myopias nops but eyes present and each with 2 facets; apices of scapes failed to reach occipital corners; in profile view posterodorsal corner of petiolar node rounded, in dorsal view petiolar node about as broad as long.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: China (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

Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

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

  • menba. Myopias menba Xu & Liu, 2012: 824, figs. 8-11 (w.) CHINA (Tibet).
    • Type-material: holotype worker.
    • Type-locality: China: Tibet, Medog County, Medog Town, Yarang, 720 m., 20.v.2008, no. A08-838, on ground in secondary rainforest (Z. Xu).
    • Type-depository: SFCY.
    • Status as species: Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 60; Xu, Burwell & Nakamura, 2014b: 166 (in key); Probst, Guénard & Boudinot, 2015: 204 (in key).
    • Distribution: China.

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 3.3, HL 0.73, HW 0.58, CI 79, SL 0.45, SI 78, ML 0.45, ED 0.03, PW 0.41, AL 0.95, PL 0.30, PH 0.40, DPW 0.30, LPI 133, DPI 100.

Head nearly rectangular, longer than broad, lateral sides nearly parallel. Occipital margin straight, occipital corners bluntly prominent. Mandibles elongate, triangular, inner margin very short, about 1/3 length of masticatory margin. Masticatory margin with 4 teeth, including 1 basal tooth, 1 middle tooth, and 2 minute apical denticles beside the basal corner. Median lobe of clypeus protruding forward, nearly square, length : width = 3:4, lateral sides parallel, anterior margin straight. Longitudinal furrow between frontal lobes distinct. Antennae short, 12-segmented, apices of scapes reached to 4/5 of the distance from antennal sockets to occipital corners, antennal clubs 4-segmented. Eyes minute, with only 2 facets.

In profile view, promesonotum weakly convex, promesonotal suture and metanotal groove slightly depressed. Propodeal dorsum straight, about 2 times as long as declivity, posterodorsal corner rounded. Petiolar node very thick, roughly trapezoid, anterior face straight, dorsal face rounded into posterior face, anterodorsal corner bluntly prominent, posterodorsal corner indistinct. Subpetiolar process large, triangular, anteroventral corner bluntly prominent. Anterior and posteroventral faces nearly straight. In dorsal view, petiolar node trapezoid, widened backward, length : width = 1:1.1, anterior and lateral margins weakly convex, posterior margin weakly concave. Constriction between the two basal gastral segments distinct. Sting laterally compressed, apex relatively blunt.

Mandibles smooth and shining, with sparse fine punctures. Head, alitrunk, and petiole densely punctured, lateral sides of alitrunk finely longitudinally rugose, dorsal and posterior faces of petiolar node smooth. Gaster smooth and shining, dorsa of the two basal segments abundantly punctured, the rest segments sparsely punctured. Dorsa of head and body with sparse suberect short hairs and dense decumbent pubescence, gastral apex with abundant longer hairs. Scapes and tibiae with sparse suberect hairs and dense decumbent pubescence. Color brownish yellow, eyes black.

Type Material

Holotype: worker, CHINA: Tibet, Medog County, Medog Town, Yarang, 720m, forage on the ground in the secondary rain forest, 2008.V.20, Zheng-Hui Xu leg., No. A08-838.

Etymology

The new species is named after the Chinese minority nationality Menba who mainly lives in southeastern Tibet.

References

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
  • Xu Z.-H., and X. Liu. 2011. Three new species of the ant genus Myopias (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from China with a key to the known Chinese species. Sociobiology 59: 819-834.
  • Xu Z.-H.; C. J. Burwell., and A. Nakamura. 2014. A new species of the ponerine ant genus Myopias Roger from Yunnan, China, with a key to the known Oriental species. Sociobiology 61(2): 164-170.