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Stigmatomma bellii
| Stigmatomma bellii | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Amblyoponinae |
| Genus: | Stigmatomma |
| Species: | S. bellii |
| Binomial name | |
| Stigmatomma bellii (Forel, 1900)
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Photo Gallery
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Identification
Hamer et al. (2023), Fig. 12. Head comparison of Stigmatomma nr. quadratum group specimen collected in Hong Kong (A; ANTWEB1010961) to the holotypes of Stigmatomma quadratum (B; CASENT0916797, Flavia Esteves), S. reclinatum (C; CASENT0915649, Harald Bruckner), S. bellii (D; CASENT0102510, April Nobile), S. rothneyi (E; CASENT0102517, April Nobile) and S. crenatum (F; CASENT0104983, April Nobile). Stigmatomma feae holotype (CASENT0102126) not included here. Pictures available from www.antweb.org.
Hamer et al. (2023), Fig. 14. Genal tooth shapes, in full face view, across species within the Stigmatomma reclinatum group. Stigmatomma nr. quadratum (A; ANTWEB1010866), Stigmatomma quadratum (B; CASENT0916797, Flavia Esteves), S. reclinatum (C; ZRC_HYM_571.1), S. bellii (D; CASENT0102510, April Nobile), S. rothneyi (E; CASENT0102517, April Nobile) and S. crenatum (F; CASENT0104983, April Nobile). Stigmatomma feae holotype (CASENT0102126) not included here. Pictures available from www.antweb.org.
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Keys including this Species
Distribution
Within India, Stigmatomma bellii is known from both the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas (Bharti et al., 2016; Sahanashree et al., 2023).
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 12.54305556° to 12.54305556°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: India (type locality), Sri Lanka.
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
Worker
Images from AntWeb
   
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| Worker. Specimen code casent0102487. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland. |
   
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| Holotype of Amblyopone bellii. Worker. Specimen code casent0102510. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland. |
   
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| Worker. Specimen code casent0172186. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by ANIC, Canberra, Australia. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- bellii. Amblyopone (Stigmatomma) bellii Forel, 1900c: 55 (w.) INDIA (Karnataka).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
- Type-locality: India: Kanara (Bell).
- Type-depository: MHNG.
- Combination in Stigmatomma: Bingham, 1903: 38;
- combination in Amblyopone: Brown, 1960a: 167;
- combination in Stigmatomma: Yoshimura & Fisher, 2012a: 19.
- Status as species: Bingham, 1903: 38; Emery, 1911d: 24; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 24; Brown, 1960a: 167, 193; Bolton, 1995b: 61; Tiwari, 1999: 32; Xu, 2001d: 552 (in key); Bharti & Wachkoo, 2011: 590 (in key); Xu & Chu, 2012: 1179 (in key); Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 18.
- Distribution: India.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Brown (1960) - I have been able to examine and compare directly the types of Stigmatomma rothneyi and bellii, and I find them to differ scarcely at all. Forel's description of bellii is in error on several crucial points. First of all, the bellii types have denticulae on the anterior clypeal margin that are approximately as distinct as in the rothneyi type, and similar in form. The eyes of the rothneyi type are slightly larger (0.22 mm. greatest diam.) than in bellii (0.18 mm. greatest diam.), but not nearly so much so as Forel claims. I count about 70-90 facets in the rothneyi type before me (here designated and labeled as lectotype); though the count is very difficult, I find the two bellii syntypes to have almost as many facets (50-70) as rothneyi. In fact, under the best circumstances of counting, I seriously doubt whether the difference is significant.
The bellii types are slightly more coarsely and quite opaquely sculptured over head, alitrunk, petiole and postpetiole; in the rothneyi type, these areas are very densely punctate and nearly opaque, but many of the punctures do have narrow shining spaces between them, and the postpetiole is more definitely shining. Both of these species have the anterior genal angles bluntly subrectangular, and not projecting. The palpal count for both of the bellii syntypes is maxillary 4; labial 3 (not 2 and 3, as Forel states); the palpi cannot be seen in the rothneyi type. These two species may well be geographical variants; bellii is from Kanara, on the western side of the Peninsula south of Bombay, while rothneyi is from Barraekpore, near Calcutta. From Poona, central Madras Presidency, and Orissa, all on the Indian Peninsula, I have numbers of large males that probably belong to bellii and/or rothneyi. These males have distinctive genitalia and a long, narrow caudal process on the subgenital plate. The whole terminalia most resemble those of a series of large males of another species from Formosa, probably the same as the male doubtfully attributed to bruoii by Forel (1913, Arch. Naturg., 79 (A6):183), but which is more likely a member of the reclinata group.
References
- Basu, P. 1997. Seasonal and spatial patterns in ground foraging ants in a rain forest in the Western Ghats, India. Biotropica 29: 489-500.
- 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 38, Combination in Stigmatomma)
- Brown, W. L., Jr. 1960a. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. III. Tribe Amblyoponini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 122:143-230. (page 193, Combination in Amblyopone)
- Forel, A. 1900d. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part VI. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 13:52-65. (page 55, worker described)
- Hamer, M.T., Pierce, M.P., Guénard, B. 2023. The Amblyoponinae (Formicidae) of Hong Kong. Asian Myrmecology 16, e016005 (doi:10.20362/am.016005).
- Sahanashree, R., Aswaj, P., Aniruddha, M., Priyadarsanan, D.R. 2023. Two new reports of Stigmatomma Roger, 1859 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Amblyoponinae) species from the Indian Subcontinent. Sociobiology 70(4): e9315 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v70i4.9315).
- Yoshimura, M. & Fisher, B.L. 2012. A revision of male ants of the Malagasy Amblyoponinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with resurrections of the genera Stigmatomma and Xymmer. PLoS ONE. 7(3):e33325. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033325
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Basu P. 1994. Ecology of ground foraging ants in a tropical evergreen forest in Western Ghats, India. PhD Thesis, School of ecology and environmental sciences, Pondichery University, India. 155 pages.
- Basu P. 1997. Seasonal and spatial patterns in ground foraging ants in a rain forest in the Western Ghats, India. Biotropica 29(4): 489-500.
- Forel A. 1900. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part VI. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 13: 52-65.