A taxonomic revision of seed harvester ants of the Tetramorium solidum group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in southern Africa
Author
Mbanyana, Nokuthula
157A51ED-7C85-4CA3-84E4-B7BD1E2A7E8F
Iziko Museums of South Africa, P. O. Box 61, Cape Town, 8000 South Africa. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919 - 1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan. Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X 1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
nmbanyana@iziko.org.za
Author
Garcia, Francisco Hita
B7ADF56F-935D-4BD8-ADB3-50E96F8BB463
fhitagarcia@gmail.com
Author
Robertson, Hamish Gibson
972FAB6C-C5FA-45EA-9A17-9F156845BE4F
Iziko Museums of South Africa, P. O. Box 61, Cape Town, 8000 South Africa. Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919 - 1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan. Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X 1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
hrobertson@iziko.org.za
Author
Roux, Johannes Jacobus Le
2995D443-01FA-4F65-BFEE-ECA07B73504A
jleroux@sun.ac.za
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2018
2018-08-07
454
1
59
journal article
22298
10.5852/ejt.2018.454
654c9653-fbef-4d0d-9e07-619084ac1162
3817358
07F6B28D-ECA4-4F14-8132-0A58DE156057
Tetramorium barbigerum
Bolton
, 1980
Figs 3J
,
6
Tetramorium barbigerum
Bolton
, 1980: 243
.
Diagnosis
Tetramorium barbigerum
is easily distinguished from all species of the
T
.
solidum
group by its head shape, which is narrower in front of the eyes than behind (
Fig. 3J
). Morphologically, this species is similar to
T
.
jordani
and
T
.
signatum
in that they are all black in colour and lack erect hairs on the mesosoma, but the sculpture in
T
.
signatum
is much stronger developed compared to
T
.
jordani
and
T. barbigerum
.
Tetramorium barbigerum
and
T
.
jordani
have a feeble cephalic sculpture, fading out at the level of the eyes and replaced by a fine superficial punctation (
Figs 6C
,
14C
). These two species can be easily distinguished from each other by the lack of propodeal spines/teeth in
T
.
jordani
(PSLI 1–2) (
Fig. 3G
) and the presence thereof in
T. barbigerum
(PSLI 7–8) (
Fig. 6A
).
Material examined
Holotype
NAMIBIA
:
worker
,
10 mi.
(
16 km
) W of Okombahe
,
920 m
a.s.l.
,
10 May 1958
,
R.E. Ross
and
R.E. Leech
leg. (
CASC
:
CASTYPE13386
).
Paratypes
NAMIBIA
: 17 pinned
workers
, same data as
holotype
(
CASC
:
CASENT0270787
to
CASENT0270792
);
3 pinned
workers
, same data as
holotype
(
BMNH
).
Measurements
(workers N = 6)
HL
1.214
–1.266
(1.244); HW
1.201
–1.240
(1.223) SL
0.827
–0.891
(0.857); EL
0.297
–0.323
(0.308);
PH
0.570
–0.590
(0.583); PW
0.747
–0.806
(0.775); WL
1.227
–1.356
(1.294); PSL
0.089
–0.098
(0.093); PTH
0.354
–0.374
(0.363); PTL
0.354
–0.384
(0.370); PTW
0.364
–0.384
(0.375); PPH
0.517
–0.568
(0.536); PPL
0.295
–0.403
(0.362); PPW
0.443
–0.472
(0.462); OI 24–26 (25); CI 95–101 (98); SI 67–72 (70); DMI 56–62 (60); LMI 42–49 (45); PSLI 7–8 (8); PeNI 46–50 (48); LPeI 95–108 (102) DPeI 108–132 (101); PpNI 58–62 (60); LPpI 57–76 (68); DPpI 117–153 (129); PPI 118–127 (123).
Distribution
Only known from the
type
locality, Okombahe in
Namibia
.