Myrmica pachei

Myrmica pachei
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Myrmicini
Genus:	Myrmica
Species group:	pachei
Species:	M. pachei
Binomial name
	Myrmica pachei; Forel, 1906 Syntype Specimen Label

This species was found nesting under stones in wet soil, with ground covered with grass, low vegetation and scattered Pinus trees. The maximum altitude at which specimens were collected was 3180m (Jaswantgarh in Arunachal Pradesh), where temperature ranged from 15°C to 24.2°C and humidity 65-85%. The colonies were small with up to 30 workers. Alates were collected during the month of June and first week of October (Bharti et al., 2016). Forel (1906) noted that type specimens were collected from a colony in a tree trunk.

Identification

A member of the pachei group, a key feature of which is the transversal rugulosity present on the alitrunk dorsum. Until recently we considered this unusual feature for Myrmica species to be present in only a couple of other species from the Himalaya (Myrmica inezae and Myrmica villosa). M. pachei differs from M. villosa by having much shorter, straighter and sparser hairs on the body, by darker colour and by much more dense sculpture on the alitrunk. It clearly differs from M. inezae therefore we place M. pachei and M. villosa together in the pachei-group. (Radchenko and Elmes 2010)

Zhong et al. (2024), Fig. 5. Diagnostic characters of Myrmica inermis and clustering based on Ward’s method from the M. pachei-group. Values indicate the presence (1) or absence (0) of a character. Abbreviations: A, head extensively punctated; B, dense rugae between frontal carinae; C, posterior cephalic margin distinctly rounded; D, lateral margins of head without long suberect hairs; E, head slightly longer than broad, not elongated; F, pronotal dorsum reticulate sculpture; G, metanotal groove weak depression; H, mesopleuron with monotonous regular horizontal rugae; I, propodeal spines strongly shortened; J, petiole distinctly longer than high; K, first gastral tergite smooth.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India, Nepal (type locality).

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

Castes

Phylogeny

Zhong et al. (2024), Fig. 5. Diagnostic characters of Myrmica inermis and clustering based on Ward’s method from the M. pachei-group. Values indicate the presence (1) or absence (0) of a character. Abbreviations: A, head extensively punctated; B, dense rugae between frontal carinae; C, posterior cephalic margin distinctly rounded; D, lateral margins of head without long suberect hairs; E, head slightly longer than broad, not elongated; F, pronotal dorsum reticulate sculpture; G, metanotal groove weak depression; H, mesopleuron with monotonous regular horizontal rugae; I, propodeal spines strongly shortened; J, petiole distinctly longer than high; K, first gastral tergite smooth.

Nomenclature

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

pachei. Myrmica pachei Forel, 1906b: 79 (w.q.m.) NEPAL. See also: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 211.

Type Material

Lectotype (designated by Radchenko & Elmes, 2001): worker, “NE Nepal, Tseram, 3600 m, Pache” (NHMG).
Paralectotypes (designated by Radchenko & Elmes, 2001): 2 workers (NHMG) and l worker “NE Nepal, Tseram, 3600 m, Pache” (MCZ); 1 worker, 1 male, “Myrmica Pachei n. Nepal, Himalaya 3600 m” (MSNG).

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) - M. pachei: dedicated to the collector, the Swiss climber Alexis Pache who was killed in an avalanche in July 1905 while attempting to climb Kangchenjunga (the World's third highest mountain). The expedition was led by the controversial occultist and black magician Aleister Crowley and the Swiss doctor Jules Jacot-Guillarmod. Forel had given Pache tubes to collect high altitude ants, eventually Pache's brother-in-law returned two tubes found in his belongings, one of which contained the three castes of this species.

References

Bharti, H., Sasi, S., Radchenko, A. 2016. Biogeography and ecology of Myrmica species (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Himalayan regions. Sociobiology 63, 956-975 (DOI 10.13102/sociobiology.v63i3.1145).
Dendup, K.C., Dorji, C., Dhadwal, T., Bharti, H., Pfeiffer, M. 2021. A preliminary checklist of ants from Bhutan. Asian Myrmecology 14, e014005 (doi:10.20362/am.014005).
Forel, A. 1906b. Les fourmis de l'Himalaya. Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat. 42: 79-94 (page 79, worker, queen, male described)
Radchenko, A.G. & Elmes, G.W. 2009. Taxonomic revision of the pachei species-group of the genus Myrmica Latreille. Annales Zoologici (Warszawa) 59: 67-92. PDF
Radchenko, A.G. & Elmes, G.W. 2010. Myrmica ants of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3: 1-789.
Subedi, I.P., Budha, P.B. 2019. Status of ant research and species first described from Nepal with new distribution records. Journal of Natural History Museum. 31:57-78.
Subedi, I.P., Budha, P.B., Bharti, H., Alonso, L. 2020. An updated checklist of Nepalese ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 1006, 99–136 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1006.58808).
Zhong, Y., Huang, Y., Wu, T., Liu, Z. 2024. A new spineless Myrmica species from China, with the reinstatement of M. zhengi Ma & Xu (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology 27, 102261 (doi:10.1016/j.aspen.2024.102261).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Bharti H., S. Sasi, and A. Radchenko. 2016. Biogeography and ecology of Myrmica species (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Himalayan regions. Sociobiology 63(3): 956-975.
Bharti H., Y. P. Sharma, M. Bharti, and M. Pfeiffer. 2013. Ant species richness, endemicity and functional groups, along an elevational gradient in the Himalayas. Asian Myrmecology 5: 79-101.
Collingwood C.A. 1970. Formicidae (Hymenopter: Aculeata) of Nepal. Himalaya Khumbu Himal, 3: 371-388.
Forel A. 1906. Les fourmis de l'Himalaya. Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 42: 79-94.
Mo F., Z. Xu, Y. Song, C. Li, and Q. He. 2015. Ant communities in Yadong section of Mt. Himalaya. Journal of Nanjing Forestry University 39(3): 85-90.
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. 2009. Taxonomic revision of the pachei species-group of the genus Myrmica Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annales Zoologici (Warsaw) 59: 67-92.
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.
Weber N. A. 1947. A revision of the North American ants of the genus Myrmica Latreille with a synopsis of the Palearctic species. I. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 40: 437-474.