Lepisiota mayri

This species appears to be widespread on the Indian subcontinent and has typically been reported as Lepisiota capensis; specimens were collected by hand, beating vegetation and honey baiting.

Identification
The species is similar to Lepisiota modesta with which it shares its uniform black color and a medium-sized body. The distinguishing features include a combination of fine microreticulate sculpture on head and mesosoma, prominent propodeal spines and abundant erect setae on the body in L. mayri, versus a smooth and shiny body, reduced propodeal spines, and sparse erect setae in L. modesta.

Distribution
India (as Lepisiota capensis; Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, West Bengal) (Bharti et al. 2016; Dad et al. 2019).

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

Nomenclature

 * . Lepisiota mayri Wachkoo et al., 2021: 235, 243 (in key), figs. 19-21 (w.) INDIA (Himachal Pradesh).

Type Material

 * Holotype worker. India, Himachal Pradesh, Andretta, 32.0744° N, 76.5856° E, 940 m, 21.vi.2010.
 * Paratypes
 * 12 workers, same data as for holotype
 * 7 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Baijnath, 32.0527° N, 76.6500° E, 1125 m, 17.vi.2010
 * 6 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Kotla, 31.8821° N, 75.9963° E, 500 m, 13.x.2008
 * 2 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Nahan, 760 m, 30.5596° N, 77.2960° E, 27.viii.2009
 * 1 worker, Himachal Pradesh, Renuka, 30.6083° N, 77.4615° E, 600 m, 8.v.2009
 * 5 workers, Himachal Pradesh, Terrace, 31.9234° N, 75.9294° E, 420 m, 24.v.2009
 * 3 workers, Uttarakhand, Forest Research Institute, 30.3416° N, 77.9903° E, 640 m, 2.ix.2009
 * 8 workers, Uttarakhand, Rajaji Forest Area, 30.2483° N, 77.9878° E, 660 m, 21.v.2010
 * 1 worker, Uttarakhand, Selaqui, 30.3720° N, 77.8605° E, 670 m, 24.v.2010, Aijaz A. Wachkoo leg

Description
Worker

Head subquadrate; slightly longer than wide, wider posteriorly than in front; lateral and posterior margins convex, with rounded posterolateral corners; clypeus carinate in the middle; anterior clypeal margin complete and convex; eyes broadly oval, weakly convex, placed at the middle-line of head, covering about onethird of lateral cephalic margin; three small ocelli present; antennal scape surpassing posterior head margin by about one-third its length. In lateral view promesonotum convex, metanotum low, almost straight; mesometanotum demarcated; metanotal area distinct; mesometanotum constricted; propodeum armed with a pair of posteriorly diverging thick blunt spines; propodeal declivity steep. Petiole upright, with angular sides, dorsally emarginate, armed with a pair of nearly straight spines pointing upward.

Overall body shiny; head weakly microreticulate to smooth without sculpture; pronotum, metanotum and propodeal dorsum coarsely microreticulate; mesonotum weakly microreticulate, mesometanotal suture crossribbed; propleuron sometimes weakly longitudinally striate; mesometapleuron coarsely longitudinally striate. Black; scape and tarsi yellow brown.

Measurements (n = 15): HL 0.65–0.73; HW 0.60– 0.69; EL 0.20–0.23; SL 0.68–0.77; PnW 0.42–0.50; ML 0.92–1.04; PFL 0.57–0.64; PFW 0.14–0.17 mm. Indices: CI 91–95; SI 111–116; REL 29–31.

Etymology

The species is named in honor of Gustav Mayr, author of L. capensis to which it has been a homonym.