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Zasphinctus wilsoni
| Zasphinctus wilsoni | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Dorylinae |
| Genus: | Zasphinctus |
| Species: | Z. wilsoni |
| Binomial name | |
| Zasphinctus wilsoni Hita Garcia, 2017
| |
Zasphinctus wilsoni is only known from its type locality, the Gorongosa National Park where it was collected in the leaf litter of a secondary dry forest.
Identification
Hita Garcia et al. (2017) - Zasphinctus wilsoni is morphologically closer to Zasphinctus obamai than to Zasphinctus sarowiwai, with these two ants being the other two Afrotropical species of the genus. It shares the smaller body size, the lack of median clypeal tooth, and a clearly defined vertexal margin with Z. obamai , separating both from Z. sarowiwai . However, the conspicuous surface sculpture on the cephalic dorsum and the sides of mesosoma and petiole clearly distinguishes Z. wilsoni from the other two species. Since Z. wilsoni is only known from the holotype there is no available information about intraspecific variation.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Known only from the type locality in Mozambique. Considering how generally undersampled south-eastern Africa is, it is likely that Z. wilsoni might be encountered in other woodland localities in Mozambique, Tanzania, or Zimbabwe.
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -18.99472° to -18.99472°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Mozambique (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
Zasphinctus.png)
X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Zasphinctus wilsoni (worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.
See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- wilsoni. Zasphinctus wilsoni Hita Garcia, in Hita Garcia, Fischer, et al. 2017b: 51, figs. 3, 4C,F,I,L,O,R, 5C,F,I,L,O,R, 6C,F,I,L,O,R, 11, 12, 13C, Video3 (w.) MOZAMBIQUE.
- Type-material: holotype worker.
- Type-locality: Mozambique: Sofala, Gorongosa Nat. Park, 2 km. S Chitengo, -18.99472, 34.35769, 1 m., 30.v.2012, ANTC37418, secondary forest, leaf litter (G.D. Alpert).
- Type-depository: MCZC.
- Distribution: Mozambique.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Descriptive details are found in table 3 and 4, Hita Garcia et al., 2017.
Type Material
Type material. Holotype, pinned worker, Mozambique, Sofala, Gorongosa National Park, 2 km S Chitengo, -18.99472, 34.35769, 1 m, secondary forest, leaf litter, collection code ANTC37418, 30.V.2012 (G.D. Alpert) (Museum of Comparative Zoology: MCZ-ENT-00512764).
Cybertype, A cybertype dataset consisting of the volumetric raw data in DICOM format, 3D PDFs and 3D rotation videos of scans of the head, mesosoma, metasoma, and the full body, in addition to montage photos of the head, profile and dorsal views of the holotype of (MCZC: MCZ-ENT-00512764) were all generated as part of this study. Data and images are freely available for download from a Dryad repository (there is a download link at the top right of the webpage) and a 3D surface model of the holotype can be viewed online at Sketchfab.
Etymology
This new species is dedicated to the renowned scientist, author, and conservationist Edward O. Wilson from Harvard University in honour of his more than six decades of accomplishments to the fields of myrmecology, sociobiology, biodiversity, and conservation.
References
- Borowiec, M.L. 2019. Convergent evolution of the army ant syndrome and congruence in big-data phylogenetics. Systematic Biology 68, 642–656 (doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy088).
- Hita Garcia F, Fischer G, Liu C, Audisio TL, Economo EP (2017) Next-generation morphological character discovery and evaluation: an X-ray micro-CT enhanced revision of the ant genus Zasphinctus Wheeler (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Dorylinae) in the Afrotropics. ZooKeys 693: 33–93. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.693.13012