Plagiolepis jerdonii

Plagiolepis jerdonii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Plagiolepidini
Genus:	Plagiolepis
Species:	P. jerdonii
Binomial name
Plagiolepis jerdonii Forel, 1894 Specimen Labels

Photo Gallery

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  A Plagiolepis jerdoni worker tending a subterranean mealy bug. Photo by Manoj Vembayam.

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 32.812778° to 7.966666667°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India (type locality), Sri Lanka.
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

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Plagiolepis jerdonii. Worker. Specimen code casent0909852. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

• jerdonii. Plagiolepis jerdonii Forel, 1894c: 416 (w.) INDIA.

Description

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from Bingham 1903.

Worker

Pitch-black or brownish black, the antenna and the tibia' and tarsi of the legs brownish yellow, the coxae and femora dusky black; head, thorax and abdomen subopaque. almost without pilosity, but with moderately abundant whitish pubescence, thin and silky: there are a few erect hairs on the front of the head and the apex of the abdomen. Head without the mandibles a little longer than broad, transverse, widely but very slightly emarginate posteriorly, the lateral angles of the occiput somewhat prominent: mandibles subtriangular. rather small, clypeus shining, convex, carinate; antennae slender, extending slightly more beyond the top of the head than in P. exigua. Thorax short and broad; pronotum large, convex; mesonotum from above circular, convex; meso-metanotal emargination well-marked: metanotum nearly as broad as the pronotum, basal portion very short, not half the length of the oblique, declivous apical portion. Node of the pedicel low, transverse above, strongly inclined to the front; abdomen oval.

Length: 1.3 - 1.5 mm

References

• Dias, R.K.S., Kosgamage, K.R.K.A. 2013. Occurrence and species diversity of ground-dwelling worker ants (Family: Formicidae) in selected lands in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Journal of Science of the University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka 7: 55-72 (doi:10.4038/josuk.v7i0.6233).
• Forel, A. 1894c. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part IV. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 8: 396-420 (page 416, 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).
• Phosrithong, N., Rattanachan, K., Satakoune, L., Jaitrong, W. 2024. Two new species of the ant genus Plagiolepis Mayr, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Fomicinae) from Indochina. Far Eastern Entomologist 492, 1–14 (doi:10.25221/fee.492.1).
• Tak, N. 2000b. Studies on ants (Formicidae) of Rajasthan - III. Banswara. Entomon 25: 97-101 (page 47, record for India)
• Wang, W.Y., Soh, E.J.Y., Yong, G.W.J., Wong, M.K.L., Benoit Guénard, Economo, E.P., Yamane, S. 2022. Remarkable diversity in a little red dot: a comprehensive checklist of known ant species in Singapore (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with notes on ecology and taxonomy. Asian Myrmecology 15: e015006 (doi:10.20362/am.015006).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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• D'Cunha P., and V. Mala Grover Nair. 2013. Diversity and Distribution of Ant Fauna in Hejamadi Kodi Sandspit, Udupi District, Karnataka, India. Halteres 4: 33-47.
• Dad J. M., S. A. Akbar, H. Bharti, and A. A. Wachkoo. 2019. Community structure and ant species diversity across select sites ofWestern Ghats, India. Acta Ecologica Sinica 39: 219–228.
• Dias R. K. S. 2013. Diversity and importance of soil-dweeling ants. Proceedings of the National Symposium on Soil Biodiversity, chapt 4, pp 19-22.
• Dias R. K. S., K. R. K. A. Kosgamage, and H. A. W. S. Peiris. 2012. The Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Ants (Order: Hymenoptera, Family: Formicidae) in Sri Lanka. In: The National Red List 2012 of Sri Lanka; Conservation Status of the Fauna and Flora. Weerakoon, D.K. & S. Wijesundara Eds., Ministry of Environment, Colombo, Sri Lanka. p11-19.
• Dias R. K. S., and K. R. K. Anuradha Kosgamage. 2012. Occurrence and species diversity of ground-dwelling worker ants (Family: Formicidae) in selected lands in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. J. Sci. Univ. Kelaniya 7: 55-72.
• Forel A. 1894. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part IV. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 8: 396-420.
• Ghosh S. N., S. Sheela, and B. G. Kundu. 2005. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Rabindra Sarovar, Kolkata. Records of the Zoological Survey of India. Occasional Paper 234: 1-40.
• Gulzar A. 2014. Classification and Distribution of ants in Kashgar, Xinjiang. Master's Thesis Shaanxi Normal University, 75 pages.
• Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
• Hua Li-zhong. 2006. List of Chinese insects Vol. IV. Pages 262-273. Sun Yat-sen university Press, Guangzhou. 539 pages.
• Li Z.h. 2006. List of Chinese Insects. Volume 4. Sun Yat-sen University Press
• Musthak Ali T. M. 1992. Ant Fauna of Karnataka-2. Newsletter of IUSSI Indian Chapter 6(1-2): 1-9.
• 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.
• Tak N. 2000. Studies on ants (Formicidae) of Rajasthan - III. Banswara. Entomon 25:97-101.
• Tak N. 2000. Studies on ants (Formicidae) of Rajasthan--II Dungarpur. Entomon 25: 47-54.
• Tak N. 2008. Ants of Rajasthan. Conserving Biodiversity of Rajasthan Zool. Surv. India. 149-155.
• Tak N. 2009. Ants Formicidae of Rajasthan. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper No. 288, iv, 46 p
• Tak N., and N. S. Rathore. 2004. Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae. State Fauna Series 8: Fauna of Gujarat. Zool. Surv. India. Pp. 161-183.
• Tang J., Li S., Huang E., Zhang B. and Chen Y. 1995. Hymenoptera: Formicidae (1). Economic Insect Fauna of China 47: 1-133.
• Varghese T. 2004. Taxonomic studies on ant genera of the Indian Institute of Science campus with notes on their nesting habits. Pp. 485-502 in : Rajmohana, K.; Sudheer, K.; Girish Kumar, P.; Santhosh, S. (eds.) 2004. Perspectives on biosystematics and biodiversity. Prof. T.C. Narendran commemoration volume. Kerala: Systematic Entomology Research Scholars Association, xxii + 666 pp.
• Wheeler W. M. 1928. Ants collected by Professor F. Silvestri in China. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 22: 3-38.
• Wheeler W. M. 1930. A list of the known Chinese ants. Peking Natural History Bulletin 5: 53-81.
• Xia Yongjuan, and Zheng Zhemin. 1997. A survey of Formicidae form Xinjiang. Journal of Shaanxi Normal University 25(2): 64-66.
• Xu Z., Zeng G., Liu T.-Y. and He Y.-F. 1999. [A study on communities of Formicidae ants in different subtypes of vegetation in Xishuangbanna District of China.] Zoological Research 20: 118-125