Myrmica titanica

Almost all specimens have been collected foraging on the ground or on fallen trees in well-developed forest. K. Eguchi (pers. comm.) collected workers emerging from a natural cavity in a tree cut down for timber; unfortunately, he had no tools to cut into the wood to "excavate" the colony. This led us to suppose that M. titanica might be a truly arboreal species living and foraging mainly in the canopy, in which case it might be endangered by excessive logging activities. Specimens were found at altitudes 2000-2200 m.

Identification
Radchenko and Elmes (2010) – A member of the ritae-complex of the ritae species group. Except for Myrmica angulata, it differs from all other species of the ritae-complex by the punctated surfaces between the rugae of the petiole and postpetiole. In addition, it is the largest Myrmica species in the World so far discovered, having HW > 1.80 mm, HL > 2.10 mm and AL > 3.30 mm (for details see Radchenko and Elmes 2001a; Radchenko, Elmes and Viet 2006).

Distribution
Northern Vietnam.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: Vietnam.

Castes
Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

 *  titanica. Myrmica titanica Radchenko & Elmes, 2001b: 222, figs. 1-7 (w.) VIETNAM. See also: Radchenko & Elmes, 2010: 306.

Type Material
Holotype, w, Northern Vietnam, Lao Cai, Sa Pa, Fan Sipan, all. 2020 m, April 1998, leg. B. T. Viet (Kagoshima); para type, 1 w with the same label, probably from the same nest (Elmes)

Etymology
Radchenko and Elmes (2010) - from the word titanic = colossal or gigantic derived from the Titans, the "Older Gods" of Ancient Greece, used here to describe the extraordinary size of this species compared to other Myrmica.