Myrmica boltoni

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Myrmica boltoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Myrmicini
Genus: Myrmica
Species: M. boltoni
Binomial name
Myrmica boltoni
Radchenko & Elmes, 1998

Myrmica boltoni P casent0900301.jpg

Myrmica boltoni D casent0900301.jpg

Specimen Label

One worker was collected under rotten wood in a Quercus-Rhododendron forest (P. S. Ward, pers. comm.). All samples were collected at altitudes between 2000 and 3400 m. (Radchenko & Elmes, 1998; Bharti et al., 2016).

Identification

Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - A member of the boltoni complex of the ritae species group. It differs from all members of the ritae-complex by the much finer rugosity on its body, and by the dull, dense and coarsely punctated surface of its head. From Myrmica collingwoodi it differs by its densely punctated surface of the head dorsum and waist; by the characteristics of its body sculpture M. boltoni resembles Myrmica martensi, but differs from the latter by the distinctly longer and not-divergent propodeal spines, and by the relatively longer and lower petiole.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 28.4° to 28.4°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India, Nepal (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.

  • boltoni. Myrmica boltoni Radchenko & Elmes, 1998: 18, fig. 4 (11-17) (w.) NEPAL. See also: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 104.

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

Description

Etymology

Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - this species was dedicated to our friend and colleague, Dr. Barry Bolton of the British Museum of Natural History, London, the most famous of modern ant taxonomists.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Bharti H. 2011. List of Indian ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Halteres 3: 79-87.
  • Bharti H., S. Sasi, and A. Radchenko. 2016. Biogeography and ecology of Myrmica species (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Himalayan regions. Sociobiology 63(3): 956-975.
  • Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 1998. Taxonomic revision of the ritae species-group of the genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Vestnik Zoologii 32(4): 3-27.
  • Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 2001. A taxonomic revision of the ant genus Myrmica Latreille, 1804 from the Himalaya (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Entomologica Basiliensia 23: 237-276.
  • Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 2010. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 790 pp.
  • Radchenko, A. G., and G. W. Elmes. "A taxonomic revision of the ant genus Myrmica Latreille, 1804 from the Himalaya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Entomologica Basiliensia 23 (2001): 237-276.