Myrmica boltoni

One worker was collected under rotten wood in a Quercus-Rhododendron forest (P. S. Ward, pers. comm.). All samples were collected at altitudes between 2000 and 3400 m. (Radchenko & Elmes, 1998; Bharti et al., 2016).

Identification
Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - A member of the boltoni complex of the ritae species group. It differs from all members of the ritae-complex by the much finer rugosity on its body, and by the dull, dense and coarsely punctated surface of its head. From Myrmica collingwoodi it differs by its densely punctated surface of the head dorsum and waist; by the characteristics of its body sculpture M. boltoni resembles Myrmica martensi, but differs from the latter by the distinctly longer and not-divergent propodeal spines, and by the relatively longer and lower petiole.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: India, Nepal.

Castes
Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

 *  boltoni. Myrmica boltoni Radchenko & Elmes, 1998: 18, fig. 4 (11-17) (w.) NEPAL. See also: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 104.

Etymology
Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - this species was dedicated to our friend and colleague, Dr. Barry Bolton of the British Museum of Natural History, London, the most famous of modern ant taxonomists.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bharti H. 2011. List of Indian ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Halteres 3: 79-87.
 * Bharti H., S. Sasi, and A. Radchenko. 2016. Biogeography and ecology of Myrmica species (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Himalayan regions. Sociobiology 63(3): 956-975.
 * Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 1998. Taxonomic revision of the ritae species-group of the genus Myrmica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Vestnik Zoologii 32(4): 3-27.
 * Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 2001. A taxonomic revision of the ant genus Myrmica Latreille, 1804 from the Himalaya (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Entomologica Basiliensia 23: 237-276.
 * Radchenko A. G., and G. W. Elmes. 2010. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Old World. Fauna Mundi 3. Warsaw: Natura Optima Dux Foundation, 790 pp.
 * Radchenko, A. G., and G. W. Elmes. "A taxonomic revision of the ant genus Myrmica Latreille, 1804 from the Himalaya (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Entomologica Basiliensia 23 (2001): 237-276.