Echinopla senilis

Identification
Zettel and Laciny (2015) - A member of the Echinopla striata species group. Echinopla senilis is very similar to Echinopla lineata. With more specimens of E. lineata available, some differences given by Mayr (1862) and subsequently by Mayr (1865) are not diagnostic. In fresh specimens of E. lineata the appressed hair is as abundant as in Echinopla senilis, and the shape of the petiole is rather variable. A bluish black colour of the body (“blauschwarz” in Mayr 1862, “dunkelblau” in Mayr 1865) can hardly be recognized in the lectotype of E. senilis. However, the sculptural differences are rather strong and were clearly pointed out by Gustav Mayr (1862, 1865): On the clypeus and on the sides of the mesosoma the striation is regularly striate in E. lineata whereas it is intermixed with punctures in E. senilis; at the hind margin of the propodeum and on the posterior face of the petiole, the sculpture consists of transverse striae in E. lineata whereas it is irregular and fine in E. senilis. Moreover the propodeum is anteriorly more strongly, more roundly constricted in E. senilis.

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

Nomenclature

 *  senilis. Echinopla senilis Mayr, 1862: 690 (w.) INDIA (Nicobar Is).
 * Subspecies of lineata: Emery, 1896d: 382.
 * Raised to species: Zettel & Laciny, 2015: 118.

Type Material


Lectotype (worker, designation by Zettel & Laciny, 2015) from “Sambelong” (Mayr 1862). Although the collection of contains two specimens labelled as E. senilis, only one specimen fairly agrees with Mayr’s (1862) original description and is designated as the lectotype. This lectotype does not bear a locality label and we do not know about records that connect the code letter K with a specific locality of the Novara expedition. We trust Mayr (1862) that the type was collected in “Sambelong”, a name for the Southern Group of the Nicobar Islands. The second specimen in NHMW was probably mislabelled by the former curator Anton Handlirsch (1865–1935) when he integrated Mayr’s collection into the museum’s main collection. It is a typical specimen of E. lineata and bears the same code letter Q as the lectotype of E. lineata.

Zettel & Laciny (2017) - Unexpectedly, a hitherto unrecognized syntype was found in the collection of Carlo Emery in MCSN. It probably came to C. Emery by exchange with Gustav Mayr. The specimen largely agrees with the lectotype in the diagnostic characters given by Zettel & Laciny (2015) except that the most posterior part of the propodeum is transversely striate as in Echinopla lineata. Like the lectotype it does not possess a bluish shimmer as described by Mayr (1862, 1865). Label details: 1 paralectotype (worker, MCSN), labelled "O", "Novara\ 1857–59.\Reise", "Echinopla\ senilis Mayr\ Mus. Wien. Typus", "MUSEO GENOVA\ coll. C. Emery\ (dono 1925)", "Echinopla\ senilis\ det. Herbert Zettel 2015", "Ripreparata\ 27.X.2015 R. Poggi", "Echinopla senilis\ Mayr, 1862\ PARALECTOTYPE", "G2", "Paralectotypus\ Echinopla\ senilis Mayr, 1862\ H. Zettel & A. Laciny 2016".

Worker
Zettel and Laciny (2015) - Lectotype. TL 7.2; HW1 1.85; HW2 1.80; HL 1.67; EL 0.37; SL 1.72; SW 0.20; HaL 0.36; PML 1.30; PMW 1.63; PpL 1.13; PpW 1.28; PH 0.50; PL 0.55; PW 1.28; GL 1.96; GW 2.15. Indices: CI 110; SI 93; MI 149.

Zettel & Laciny (2017) - Measurements of paralectotype: TL 7.37; HW1 1.96; HW2 1.91; HL 1.89; EL 0.40; SL n.a.*; SW n.a.*; HaL n.a.*; PML 1.39; PMW 1.67; PpL 1.30; PpW 1.37; PH 0.51; PL 0.59; PW 1.28; GL 2.25; GW 2.22. Indices: CI 103; SI n.a.*; MI 161. *Both antennae missing.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
 * Forel A. 1903. Les fourmis des îles Andamans et Nicobares. Rapports de cette faune avec ses voisines. Rev. Suisse Zool. 11: 399-411.
 * Mohanraj P., M. Ali, and K. Veerakumari. 2010. Formicidae of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Indian Ocean: Bay of Bengal). Journal of Insect Science 10: Article 172
 * Mohanraj, P., M. Ali and K. Veenakumari. 2010. Formicidae of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Indian Ocean: Bay Of Bengal). Journal of Insect Science 10:172.