Trichomyrmex kempi

Trichomyrmex kempi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Solenopsidini
Genus:	Trichomyrmex
Species:	T. kempi
Binomial name
Trichomyrmex kempi Mukerjee, 1930

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Trichomyrmex

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: India (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.

• kempi. Monomorium (Parholcomyrmex) kempi Mukerjee, 1930: 154, fig. 2 (w.) (no state data).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “several specimens”).
  • Type-locality: Country/State indeterminate: Seistan desert, Labi Baring (N. Annandale & S.W. Kemp).
  • [Note: Seistan desert lies in eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan, and western Pakistan. Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 39, record the species as Indian (Sikkim, West Bengal).]
  • Type-depository: unknown (no type-material known to exist).
  • [Note: Mukerjee says that the specimens are deposited in “Zoological Survey of India, Indian Museum, Calcutta”, now NZSI, but they have apparently been lost.]
  • Combination in Trichomyrmex: (provisional, unpublished).
  • [Note: provisional combination as original description cites Parholcomyrmex.]
  • Status as species: Bolton, 1995b: 263; Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 39.
  • Distribution: not known with certainty.

Taxonomic Notes

Provisional combination in Trichomyrmex as original description cites Parholcomyrmex.

Description

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description (Mukherjee, 1930) page 154 as Monomorium (Parholcomyrmex) kempi.

Worker

Major

Head rectangular, longer than broad, slightly emarginate at the occiput: eyes prominent, placed laterally at about the middle of the sides of the head, antennal carinae short; clypeus bicarinate, anteriorly truncate, posteriorly produced between the bases of the antennae; antennal and clypeal hollows confluent; mandibles toothed; antennae 12-jointed, with a three-jointed club nearly as long as the rest of the flagellum; 1st and 2nd joints of the flagellum subequal, joints 2-7 smaller than the rest. Scape clavate extending beyond the top of the head. Thorax narrower than head; pronotum convex above, its angles rounded; promesonotal suture distinct; thorax emarginate at the meso-metanotal suture; metanotum slightly gibbous and without any teeth or spines. First node petiolate, sub-conical and raised higher than the second node; second node cuboid; abdomen elongate oval. Legs moderately long. Head punctate, a few obsolete striae at its anterior end, rest of the body smooth, without any sculpture; body devoid of pubescence and hairs.

Head and nodes reddish brown; thorax yellowish brown; abdomen shining black with a metallic tint.

Length: 3.5 mm

Minor

Smaller than the major worker, otherwise resembling it in all respects.

References

• Mukerjee, D. 1930. Report on a collection of ants in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34: 149-163 (page 154, fig. 2 worker described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Bharti H. 2011. List of Indian ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Halteres 3: 79-87.
• Mukerjee D. 1930. Report on a collection of ants in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34: 149-163.