Nylanderia emmae

Nylanderia emmae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Lasiini
Genus:	Nylanderia
Species:	N. emmae
Binomial name
Nylanderia emmae (Forel, 1894) Specimen Labels

Identification

Williams and LaPolla (2016) - Based on both morphological (present study) and molecular data (Blaimer et al. 2015) we are able to move this species to Nylanderia. This species has deep and complete mesonotal and metanotal sutures, anteriorly-placed eyes, and macrosetae with thick setal bases all of which are characteristic of Nylanderia. This species was likely thought to be a Prenolepis because its elongate mesosoma appears to be constricted. However, this species does not have the depression in the dorsal surface of the mesonotum that is seen in Prenolepis species.

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Palaearctic Region: China (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.

Nomenclature

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

• emmae. Prenolepis emmae Forel, 1894c: 406 (footnote) (w.) CHINA (Hong Kong).
  • Combination in Prenolepis (Nylanderia): Emery, 1906b: 133.
  • Combination in Paratrechina (Euprenolepis): Emery, 1925b: 224.
  • Combination in Prenolepis: Brown, 1953h: 7.
  • [Note: Brown, 1953h: 7, wrongly rendered the name as P. geei; see Wheeler, W.M. 1930h: 80, for correspondence of data.]
  • Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1921c: 542 (redescription); Bolton, 1995b: 364; Wu, J. & Wang, 1995: 136; Zhou, 2001b: 171.
  • Combination in Nylanderia: Williams & LaPolla, 2016: 246.

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

Description

Worker

Williams and LaPolla (2016) - (n=9): CMC: 30–34; EL: 0.19–0.24; EW: 0.14–0.17; HL: 0.77–0.92; HLA: 0.33–0.40; HLP: 0.37–0.47; HW: 0.66–0.84; IOD: 0.44–0.48; LF1: 0.18–0.23; LF2: 0.09–0.14; LHT: 1.03–1.24; MMC: 2–3; MTW: 0.39–0.47; MW: 0.23–0.28; PDH: 0.30–0.38; PMC: 3–4; PrCL: 0.51–0.60; PrCW: 0.29–0.36; PrFL: 0.88–1.03; PrFW: 0.19–0.24; PTH: 0.29–0.38; PTL: 0.30–0.33; PTW: 0.17–0.21; PW: 0.48–0.54; SL: 1.09–1.35; TL: 2.64–3.49; WF1: 0.06–0.08; WF2: 0.06–0.07; WL: 1.14–1.41; BLI: 165–188; CI: 85–92; EPI: 82–90; FLI: 158–200; HTI: 142–155; PetHI: 91–100; PetWI: 62–68; PrCI: 56–61; PrFI: 22–25; REL: 24–27; REL2: 27–31; REL3: 40–49; SI: 158–165.

Yellow to light brown; cuticle of head lightly reticulate; cuticle of pronotum smooth and shiny; cuticle of mesonotum, metanotum, mesopleura, and propodeum with deep longitudinal striations; long, erect macrosetae with thick setal bases on head, pronotum, mesonotum, gaster, and legs; erect setae on scapes; macrosetae the same color as the rest of the cuticle; light, decumbent hairs on the dorsal face of the propodeum; head slightly longer than broad and oval in shape with indistinct posterolateral corners and a weakly convex posterior margin; compound eyes are positioned slightly anterior to the midline of the head (EPI < 100); compound eyes are moderately sized and convex, but do not surpass the lateral margins of the head in full-face view; mandibles with 6 teeth on the masticatory margin; cuticle of ectal surface of mandibles smooth and shiny; mesosoma is gracile; in profile view the dorsal surface of the mesonotum is flat and elongate; propodeum is highly domed with a rounded dorsal face; dorsal apex of petiole scale is sharply angled and forward-inclined; mesonotal and metanotal sutures are deep and complete.

Type Material

• Lectotype (designated by Williams & LaPolla, 2016: 246), worker, Victoria Park, Hong Kong, China, CASENT0911039, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
• Paralectotype (designated by Williams & LaPolla, 2016: 246), 2 workers, Victoria Park, Hong Kong, China, 35566, American Museum of Natural History.

References

• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1953h. Characters and synonymies among the genera of ants. Part II. Breviora 18: 1-8 (page 7, Combination in Prenolepis; (where the name was wrongly rendered as P. geei; see Wheeler, W.M. 1930h: 80 for correspondence of data))
• Emery, C. 1906b. Note sur Prenolepis vividula Nyl. et sur la classification des espèces du genre Prenolepis. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 50: 130-134 (page 133, Combination in P. (Nylanderia))
• Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 224, Combination in Paratrechina (Euprenolepis))
• Forel, A. 1894c. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part IV. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 8: 396-420 (page 406, (footnote) worker described)
• 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).
• Wheeler, W. M. 1921c. Chinese ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 64: 529-547 (page 542, see also)
• Williams, J. L. and J. S. LaPolla. 2016. Taxonomic revision and phylogeny of the ant genus Prenolepis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). 4200(2):201–258. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4200.2.1
• Williams, J.L., Zhang, Y.M., LaPolla, J.S., Schultz, T.R., Lucky, A. 2022. Phylogenetic delimitation of morphologically cryptic species in globetrotting Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) species complexes. Insect Systematics and Diversity 6 (1): 10:1-15 (doi:10.1093/isd/iaxb027).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Alcantara M. J., S. Modi, T. C. Ling, J. Monkai, H. Xu, S. Huang, and A. Nakamura. 2019. Differences in geographic distribution of ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) between forests and rubber plantations: a case study in Xishuangbanna, China, and a global meta-analysis. Myrmecological News 29: 135-145.
• 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
• Guo X., Q. Lin, J. Cui, D. Gao, S. Xu, and Z. Sheng. 2014. Biodiversity and spatial distribution patterns of ant species in tea gardens of Chongqing. Chinese Journal of Eco-Agriculture DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1011.2014.31052
• Ran H., and S. Y. Zhou. 2013. Checklist of Chinese Ants: Formicomorph Subfamilies ( Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (III). Journal of Guangxi Normal University : Natural Science Edition 31(1): 104-111.
• Williams J. L., and J. S. LaPolla. 2016. Taxonomic revision and phylogeny of the ant genus Prenolepis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 4200: 201-258.
• Zhou S.-Y. 2001. Ants of Guangxi. Guangxi Normal University Press, Guilin, China, Guilin, China. 255 pp.