Review of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Australia with notes on A. ceylonicus (Mayr)
Author
Shattuck, Steven O.
text
Zootaxa
2008
1926
1
19
journal article
48551
10.5281/zenodo.184817
e5c56f88-2105-49a1-99e0-39eb486f9c64
1175-5326
184817
Aenictus acerbus
sp. n.
(
Figs 1–3
,
7, 8
,
24
)
Types
.
Holotype
worker from
9km
ENE Mt. Tozer,
12°43’S
143°17’E
, Queensland,
5–10 July 1986
, J.C.Cardale, ex. pan traps (ANIC, ANIC32-023688). Two
paratype
workers, same data as
holotype
(ANIC, ANIC32-023646).
Diagnosis.
Head capsule entirely smooth and essentially uniformly coloured; scape relatively short (SI <91); sculpturing on pronotum extending posteriorly onto the main pronotal body; body larger (HW>
0.62mm
). This species is morphologically similar to
A. turneri
but can be separated from it by its larger size and more extensive sculpturing on the pronotum.
Worker Description.
Mandible narrow and subtriangular, with a large apical tooth and a smaller subapical tooth followed by 4–6 small teeth and a larger basal tooth; anterior clypeal border varying from weakly convex to weakly concave, located at or slightly posterior to anterior margin of frontal lobes in full face view; parafrontal ridges absent; subpetiolar process a large rectangular to elongate-rectangular projection; head entirely smooth, pronotum with weak, closely spaced punctures dorsally and anteriorly, smooth posterolaterally, remainder of mesosoma finely punctate with weak longitudinal rugae on lateral surfaces; body yellowred to light red-brown.
Measurements.
Worker
(
n
= 13) - CI 88–97; HL 0.66–0.73; MTL 0.59–0.67; HW 0.62–0.66; ML 1.07– 1.17; SI 81–91; SL 0.53–0.58.
Additional material examined.
Australia
:
Northern Territory
: Douglas Daly, CRC Clay Site A5 (Salvarani,A.) (
TERC
); Douglas Daly, CRC Clay Site A8 (Salvarani,A.) (
TERC
);
PWCNT
, Tiwi
Island
Fauna Survey FR (Woinarski,J.) (
TERC
); Solar Village Survey, Burnt Slope 3 (Andersen,A.N.) (
TERC
).
Queensland
:
9km
ENE Mt. Tozer (Cardale,J.C.) (
ANIC
).
Western
Australia
: Kimberley,
CALM
Site 4/3 (Weir,T.) (
TERC
).
Comments.
This rare species is known from a limited number of collections in the Kimberley region of Western
Australia
, northern Northern Territory and on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. All specimens were collection from pitfall traps or pan traps. It is very similar to
A. turneri
but the differences outlined above under
Diagnosis
seem to hold for all currently available specimens and it is here recognised as a separate taxon.