Lasius elevatus

The specimens were collected from soil and under stones by hand-picking. In Manali the area was forested, beside a river with a good amount of moisture in the soil. It was a dense pine forest with little undergrowth. The nest was a few inches deep. The other two localities were also forested areas with scarce undergrowth; the collection at these was on a hill slope mostly covered by grasses. (Bharti and Gul 2013).

Identification
Bharti and Gul (2013) - Lasius elevatus is significantly different from previously reported species of this genus due to the following combination of characters: unique size of eyes, structure of petiole, head length, head width, scape length and pilosity of the body. It most resembles Lasius talpa, and comes somewhat close to Lasius alienoflavus. It can be easily differentiated from the former as in L. talpa the setae are very dense and are distributed all over the body including scapes, tibiae and genal margins (Wilson 1955), while in L. elevatus the setae are more sparse and absent on the genal margins. In L. alienoflavus, the dorsal crest of the petiole is flat (relatively convex in L. elevatus), the eyes are much larger (EL > 120 µm, cf. EL < 90 µm in elevatus), and EW, SL, HL and HW are all greater than in elevatus. Within the Cautolasius subgenus it can be separated from the widely-distributed Lasius flavus by the size of the apical and penultimate segments of the maxillary palps. In L. elevatus the preapical segment is shorter than the apical segment (Apical VI 60-73 µm; Preapical V 40-52 µm) but in L. flavus the preapical segment is larger than or equal in size to the apical segment (Wilson 1955).

Key to the Lasius of the Indian Himalayas

Distribution
The species has been collected from the North-West range of the Indian Himalayas, in Himachal Pradesh.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: India.

Nomenclature

 *  elevatus. Lasius elevatus Bharti & Gul, 2013, 2013: 54, figs. 1-6 (w.) INDIA.

Worker
Holotype: HL 750; HW 690; SL 560; EL 66; EW 54; ML 800; HS 720; CI 108.69; EI 9.56; SI1 74.67; SI2 81.16

Head: Head roughly rectangular in full-face view (CI 107.69-113.04); occipital margin flat; occipital corners round; a few occipital setae present (longest 78 µm) but not reaching to hind margin of eyes; lateral sides of head more-or-less parallel, somewhat narrowing anteriorly; anterior clypeal margin broadly convex, clypeal carina variable but on average less clearly developed; lateral clypeal profile convex; eyes almost round, size rather intermediate between that of Lasius alienoflavus and Lasius talpa (EI 9.56-12.33); mandibles triangular, the masticatory margin with 7 to 8 teeth, including denticles; antennae 12-segmented, scape reaching distinctly to the occipital margin.

Mesosoma, Petiole and Gaster: Mesosoma with weakly convex promesonotal dorsum; propodeal dome more conic than hemispheric, as high as mesonotum; area between propodeal spiracle and metapleural gland without setae; in frontal view petiole node with feebly convex sides, narrowing towards the crest and weakly convex to feebly emarginate dorsal crest, in profile with straight or slightly convex anterior face and straight posterior face; gaster more-or-less ovate.

Sculpture and pilosity: In general body smooth and fairly shining with scattered pilosity; head and mesosoma with shallow micropunctures; body covered with suberect to erect setae, more abundant and longest on gaster (140 µm); cuticular surface covered with smooth and rather dense pubescence; gena without standing hairs or setae; scape with subdecumbent to decumbent pubescence, a few setae present at the proximal end; hind tibia pubescence smooth, setae are normally present at the proximal end.

Colour: The species is light to dark yellow in colour; the masticatory margin is dark brownish and the eyes are black; pubescence pale-yellow.

Type Material
Holotype Worker. India, Himachal Pradesh, Bharmour, 32.4428N, 76.5479E, 1845m above m.s.l., 03.vii.2010 (coll. Irfan Gul). Paratypes: 10 workers, same data as holotype; 15 workers India, Himachal Pradesh, Naggar, 32°07′N, 77°10′E, 1700m, 26.vi.2010; 9 workers Manali, 32.2310N, 77.1910E, 1845m above m.s.l., 17.vi.2010. hand picking (coll. Irfan Gul).



Etymology
The species is named for its high-altitude habitat.