Myrmica ritae

Myrmica ritae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Myrmicini
Genus:	Myrmica
Species:	M. ritae
Binomial name
Myrmica ritae Emery, 1889 Syntpe Specimen Label

Andreas Schultz (pers. comm.) found a queen and workers of M. ritae in Thailand in a piece of wood (15 cm diameter) on the ground, in dense old oak forest at an altitude of 1950 m. The forest was cool (annual mean temperature < 15°C) and quite humid, with very few epiphytes, but with abundant moss. This fits the idea that ritae-group are mainly forest ants which probably forage in low shrubs, perhaps even in the foliage of trees. Other genera collected in this area included Tetramorium, Crematogaster and Pachycondyla. We also found two workers of M. ritae in the collection in London, collected at virtually same place as the Schulz material (northern Thailand), in rotten wood in a mountain humid forest, at an altitude 1780 m. (Radchenko and Elmes 2010)

Identification

A member of the ritae complex of the ritae species group. M. ritae clearly differs from all other related species by the almost straight (not sinuous) longitudinal rugae and complete absence of reticulation on the head dorsum, and by its yellowish head, which distinctly contrasts with the brown alitrunk. (Radchenko and Elmes 2010)

Keys including this Species

• Key to Myrmica of China
• Key to Myrmica of South and South East Asia

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 28.330172° to 12.090315°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India, Myanmar (type locality), Nepal, Thailand.
Palaearctic Region: China.

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.

Castes

Males are unknown.

Nomenclature

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

• ritae. Myrmica ritae Emery, 1889b: 501, pl. 11, fig. 27 (w.) MYANMAR. Radchenko & Elmes, 1999b: 95 (q.). See also: Bingham, 1903: 267; Radchenko & Elmes, 1998: 5; Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 226.

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

Etymology

Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - although he does not say so, Emery probably named this species for his wife Rita; we know her name because Forel (1899: 17), when he describe Leptogenys ritae (collected by Emery), wrote “Je dedie cette espe a Mme. Rita Emery. Se distinguee par sa forme svelte et grele”.

References

• Bingham, C. T. 1903. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera, Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-wasps. London: Taylor and Francis, 506 pp. (page 267, see also)
• Emery, C. 1889c. Formiche di Birmania e del Tenasserim raccolte da Leonardo Fea (1885-87). [part]. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. 27[=(2)(7): 485-512 (page 501, pl..11, fig. 27 worker described)
• Khachonpisitsak, S., Yamane, S., Sriwichai, P., Jaitrong, W. 2020. An updated checklist of the ants of Thailand (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 998, 1–182 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.998.54902).
• Liu, C., Fischer, G., Hita Garcia, F., Yamane, S., Liu, Q., Peng, Y.Q., Economo, E.P., Guénard, B., Pierce, N.E. 2020. Ants of the Hengduan Mountains: a new altitudinal survey and updated checklist for Yunnan Province highlight an understudied insect biodiversity hotspot. ZooKeys 978, 1–171 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.978.55767).
• Radchenko, A. 2023. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Late Eocene European ambers. Annales Zoologici 73(4), 629-648 (doi:10.3161/00034541anz2023.73.4.006).
• Radchenko, A. G.; Elmes, G. W. 1998. Taxonomic revision of the ritae species-group of the genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Vestn. Zool. 32(4): 3-27 (page 5, see also)
• Radchenko, A. G.; Elmes, G. W. 1999b. First description of the female of Myrmica ritae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), with some notes on the ritae group. Vestn. Zool. 33(6): 95-98.
• Radchenko, A.G. & Elmes, G.W. 2010. Myrmica ants of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3: 1-789.
• 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).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
• Chen Y., C.-W. Luo, H. W Li, Z. H. Xu, Y. J. Liu, and S. J. Zhao. 2011. The investigation of soil ant resources on the West slope of Mt Ailao. Hubei Agricultural Sciences 50(7): 1356-1359.
• Chen Z. L., S. Y. Zhou, and J. H. Huang. 2016. Seven species new to science and one newly recorded species of the ant genus Myrmica Latreille, 1804 from China, with proposal of a new synonym (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). ZooKeys 551: 85–128.
• Collingwood C.A. 1970. Formicidae (Hymenopter: Aculeata) of Nepal. Himalaya Khumbu Himal, 3: 371-388.
• Collingwood, C. A. "Formicidae (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) from Nepal. Khumbu Himal." Ergebnisse des Forschungsunternehmens Nepal Himalaya 3 (1970): 371-387.
• Fontanilla A. M., A. Nakamura, Z. Xu, M. Cao, R. L. Kitching, Y. Tang, and C. J. Burwell. 2019. Taxonomic and functional ant diversity along tropical, subtropical, and subalpine elevational transects in southwest China. Insects 10, 128; doi:10.3390/insects10050128
• Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
• 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.
• Song Y., Z. Xu, C. Li, N. Zhang, L. Zhang, H. Jiang, and F. Mo. 2013. An Analysis on the Ant Fauna of the Nangun river Nature Reserve in Yunnan, China. Forest Research 26(6): 773-780.
• Thapa V. K. 2000. An Inventory of Nepal's Insects, Vol. III. IUCN Nepal, Kathmandu, xi + 475 pp.
• Tiwari R. N., B. G. Kundu, S. Roy Chowdhury, and S. N. Ghosh. 2003. Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae. Fauna of Sikkim. Part 4. State Fauna Series. 9.Zool.Surv.India. i-iii, 1-512. Chapter pagination: 467-506.
• Xu Z. H., J. G. Li, Q. Z. Fu, and Q. Z. Long. 2001. A Study on the Ant Communities on West Slope at Different Elevation of theGaoligongshan Mountain Nature Reserve in Yunnan, China. Zoological Research 22(1): 58-63.
• Xu Z. 1998. A report of fourty-one ant species newly recorded in China from Xishuangbanna District of Yunnan Province (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zhongguo Xue Shu Qi Kan Wen Zhai 4: 1119-1121.