Technomyrmex vitiensis

Technomyrex vitiensis is a wide-ranging tramp species which is known from Europe and India east across the South Pacific. It nests in a wide variety of locations and has been collected from leaf litter, under stones, in rotten wood and from vegetation where it may nest in twigs, rot holes and spathes. Foraging is carried out in all of these places and the species, as well as avidly tending homopterous insects for honeydew, will also kill and consume small arthropods (Bolton, 2007). Wingless males are known to occur in this species (Peck & Bezdek, 2016).

Identification
Apart from the tramp species Technomyrmex albipes, and the as yet unrecorded Technomyrmex vitiensis, this is the only Madagascar Technomyrmex species that has setae present on the frontal carinae but absent from the head posterior to this. T. curiosus is easily distinguished from both these tramps by its complete lack of mesosomal setae and the general absence of setae from the first and second gastral tergites.

At first glance curiosus looks like a rather stocky specimen of Technomyrmex difficilis that has lost all of its mesosomal setae and almost all of its gastral setae. Apart from the greatly reduced number of setae, other obvious differences from difficilis include the short, compact mesosoma in curiosus, where the promesonotum is almost as broad as long (DTI 108 - 113, as opposed to DTI 127 - 135 in difficilis), and the shape of the propodeum in profile, as described above, which is different from the more angular shape seen in difficilis.

Also see Pacific Invasive Ant key for identification.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Comoros, Kenya. Australasian Region: New Caledonia. Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Fiji, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea, Niue, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu. Malagasy Region: Mayotte, Seychelles. Nearctic Region: United States. Neotropical Region: French Guiana. Oriental Region: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand. Palaearctic Region: Belgium.



Nomenclature

 *  vitiensis. Technomyrmex albipes var. vitiensis Mann, 1921: 473 (w.) FIJI IS. Santschi, 1928a: 52 (m.). Junior synonym of albipes: Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 82. Revived from synonymy, raised to species and senior synonym of rufescens: Bolton, 2007a: 104.
 * rufescens. Technomyrmex albipes st. rufescens Santschi, 1928c: 70, fig. 1 (w.) FIJI IS. Junior synonym of albipes: Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 82; of vitiensis: Bolton, 2007a: 104.