Aenictus mentu

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Aenictus mentu
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dorylinae
Genus: Aenictus
Species group: rixator
Species: A. mentu
Binomial name
Aenictus mentu
Weber, 1942

This species is currently known only from the type series, collected in South Sudan by Neal Weber in 1939.

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 4.112954° to 4.112954°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Sudan (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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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

Known only from the worker caste.

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • mentu. Aenictus mentu Weber, 1942a: 40, fig. 2 (w.) SOUTH SUDAN.
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “one colony”).
    • Type-locality: South Sudan (“Anglo-Egyptian Sudan”): Imatong Mts, 4.viii.1939, 4200 ft. No. 1436 (N.A. Weber).
    • Type-depository: MCZC.
    • Status as species: Weber, 1943c: 292; Bolton, 1995b: 60.
    • Distribution: South Sudan.

Type Material

  • Syntype, SOUTH SUDAN: Equatoria Region, Imatong Mountains (Neal A. Weber) 24 Jul- 5 Aug. 1939. (1w) [MCZC:ENT:26131] MCZC [Material seen on web by Gomez, 2022].

Taxonomic Notes

Gomez (2022): The type material is located at the MCZC, but it wasn’t available for examination for this study. Also, no other specimens were found in any of the major museum collections that provided access or material loans. I have provisionally placed this species in the same group as Aenictus rixator due to measurements from the type images (HW~0.40, CI~90), habitus, clypeal shape and mandibles. Based on paucity of material and the limited image quality, presently I have to refrain from offering a more accurate diagnosis or description until the types can be analyzed in detail.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Borowiec M. L. 2016. Generic revision of the ant subfamily Dorylinae (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 608: 1–280.
  • Weber N. A. 1942. New doryline, cerapachyine and ponerine ants from the Imatong Mountains, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 44: 40-49.
  • Weber N. A. 1943. The ants of the Imatong Mountains, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 93: 263-389.