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Pilotrochus besmerus
| Pilotrochus besmerus | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Pilotrochus |
| Species: | P. besmerus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pilotrochus besmerus Brown, 1978
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The sole member of its genus, Pilotrochus besmerus is found in forest habitats in eastern Madagascar. It has typically been collected from litter samples and details about its biology are unknown.
Identification
As the only species in the genus, the generic diagnosis serves as a useful means of distinguishing this ant from others.
Brown (1960) - The relationships of Pilotrochus are obscure. The shape of the head, with its broad and deep scrobes and small ventrolateral eyes, recalls that of Dacetinops, or the Codiomyrmex group of Dacetini, or even Tatuidris, but Pilotrochus differs strongly from all of these in its 8-segmented antennae, in the form of its mandibles and their teeth, and in the form of its trunk and petiole. The lateral "hair wheel" organs are also striking, and so far as I am aware are unmatched among the ants, although the region of the ventral furrow between pro- and mesothorax is sometimes modified and apparently glandular in some dacetines and a few other myrmicines.
The 2-segmented antennal club, together with some points of habitus (especially coarse sculpture and long, flexuous pilosity, plus the antennal scrobes), recalls the neotropical genus Lachnomyrmex, but the shape of the trunk in Pilotrochus is completely different, the propodeal teeth so prominent in Lachnomyrmex are completely absent, and the mandibles in the two genera are very different.
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -16.841933° to -16.841933°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Malagasy Region: Madagascar (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. |
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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
Queens and males have been collected but have yet to be described.
Worker
Images from AntWeb
   
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| Worker. Specimen code casent0010642. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
   
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| Worker. Specimen code casent0047617. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
Queen
Images from AntWeb
   
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| Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0047618. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
    
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| Male (alate). Specimen code casent0083498. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
Male
Images from AntWeb
       
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| Male (alate). Specimen code casent0103322. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- besmerus. Pilotrochus besmerus Brown, 1978a: 221, figs. 1, 2 (w.) MADAGASCAR.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Worker
Holotype: Total length (TL) 2.9, head length (HL) 0.68, head width (HW) 0.60, mandibles extend beyond median clypeal free margin (ML) 0.11 mm; when head is tilted back a little from full-face view, mandibles may extend beyond c1ypeus as much as 0.18 mm; trunk length (WL) 0.64, scape L (excluding radicle) 0.32, greatest length of eye 0.07 mm. Petiole length (chord of arc) 0.45, hind femur length 0.43, hind tibia length 0.34, hind tarsus length 0.60 mm, of which metatarsus is half. Details of form and sculpture are well shown in the figures. As seen in dorsal view, eyes hidden in full-face view, barely visible when head is tilted back slightly. Pronotum slightly broader than long
(width 0.38 mm), rounded in front, excised behind; mesonotum subquadratic, about 0.20 mm wide, with feebly convex borders on all four sides. Petiolar node 0.17 mm wide, postpetiolar node with rounded sides, slightly wider behind (width 0.21 mm, length 0.20 mm).
Pronotum smooth and shining, with about 10 costulae running longitudinally at different lengths; mesonotum with 5 longitudinal costulae on rugulae. About 5 longitudinal rugules each on petiolar and postpetiolar nodes, but weaker on the postpetiole, so that its disc is primarily smooth and shining like the gaster.
Hairs mostly a little less than 0.1 mm long on anterior head and scapes, a little more than 0.1 mm on posterior vertex; 0.15-0.25 on trunk, petiole, postpetiole and gaster, becoming shorter again at gastric apex; about 0.1 to about 0.3 mm on legs; flagelliform, many with tips reflexed or even looped back.
Type Material
Holotype (Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University) a unique worker taken in a Berlese sample of forest humus and litter from along the road to Anosibe, 33 km south of Moramanga, in east central Madagascar, 4-12 April 1975 (A. Peyrieras).
Etymology
The specific name besmerus combines the Latin 'bes' (eight of twelve) with the Greek 'meros' (part), in reference to the 8-segmented antennae as compared to the primitive myrmicine (and formicid) 12-merous condition.
References
- Brown, W. L., Jr. 1978a [1977]. An aberrant new genus of myrmicine ant from Madagascar. Psyche (Camb.) 84: 218-224 (page 221, figs. 1, 2 worker described)
- Fisher, B. L. 1997a. Biogeography and ecology of the ant fauna of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Nat. Hist. 31: 269-302 (see also)
- Jansen, G., Savolainen, R. 2010. Molecular phylogeny of the ant tribe Myrmicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 160(3), 482–495 (doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00604.x).
- Wang, C., Lin, C.-C., Keller, R.A., Billen, J. 2021. The ‘hairwheels’ in Strumigenys ants are not glandular. Asian Myrmecology 13: e013004 (doi:10.20362/am.013004).
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Brown W. L., Jr. 1978. An aberrant new genus of myrmicine ant from Madagascar. Psyche (Cambridge). 84: 218-224.
- Fisher B. L. 1997. Biogeography and ecology of the ant fauna of Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History 31: 269-302.
- Fisher B. L. 1999. Ant diversity patterns along an elevational gradient in the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale d'Andohahela, Madagascar. Fieldiana Zoology (n.s.)94: 129-147
- Fisher B. L. 2003. Formicidae, ants. Pp. 811-819 in: Goodman, S. M.; Benstead, J. P. (eds.) 2003. The natural history of Madagascar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, xxi + 1709 pp.
- Rakotonirina J. C. 2010. Survey of leaf litter ant species and assessment of invasive ants in the mining sites at Ambatovy, Madagascar. In Biodiversity, exploration, and conservation of the natural habitats associated with the Ambatovy project, eds. S. M. Goodman & V. Mass. Malagasy Nature, 3: 77-91.