Review of the ant genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Australia with notes on A. ceylonicus (Mayr).
Author
Shattuck, S. O.
text
Zootaxa
2008
1926
1
19
http://hol.osu.edu/reference-full.html?id=22170
journal article
22170
Aenictus aitkenii Forel
, rev. stat.
Aenictus aitkenii Forel
, 1901: 475 (junior synonym of
A. aratus
by Wilson, 1964: 446; revised status as valid species).
Aenictus aratus var. asiatica Forel
, 1911: 453 (junior synonym of
aratus
by Wilson, 1964: 446; removed from synonymy with
A. aratus
,
new synonym
of
A. aitkenii
).
Types.
Aenictus aitkenii
: Worker syntypes from Kanara, Thana and Travancore, India (not examined).
Aenictus aratus var. asiatica
: Worker syntype from Sri Lanka (not examined).
Comments. This species is similar to
A. aratus
(with which it has been treated as a junior synonym) and
A. nesiotis
but differs in having a broader head (CI> 87 versus CI <88 in
nesiotis
), and broader and more bulbous petiole and postpetiole (both are narrower in
aratus
and
nesiotis
). The scape is also relatively longer than in the others (SI> 115 versus SI <115). It is similar to
levior
in the shape of the head but differs in having longer scapes. This species is so far known only from India and Sri Lanka.