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Pheidole Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Madagascar - an introduction and a taxonomic revision of eleven species groups.

ABSTRACT: The present study represents an introduction to the revision of Pheidole Westwood, 1839 from Madagascar. Sixteen species groups are established, of which eleven are revised below, and illustrated identification keys to species groups and species of groups revised in this monograph are presented. Two species are raised to species level: Pheidole petax Forel, 1895 stat. nov., and P. scabrata Forel, 1895 stat. nov. We also redescribe worker castes and designate lectotypes for P. annemariae Forel, 1918, P. nemoralis Forel, 1892, P. petax Forel, 1895, P. ensifera Forel, 1897, P. longispinosa Forel, 1891, and P. scabrata Forel, 1895. The following 46 new species are described: Pheidole aelloea sp. nov., P. ala sp. nov., P. andapa sp. nov., P. ankerana sp. nov., P. avaratra sp. nov., P. bemarahaensis sp. nov., P. bemarivoensis sp. nov., P. binara sp. nov., P. boribora sp. nov., P. brevipilosa sp. nov., P. curvistriata sp. nov., P. diakritos sp. nov., P. ehazoara sp. nov., P. ferruginea sp. nov., P. fisaka sp. nov., P. fitarata sp. nov., P. glabra sp. nov., P. goavana sp. nov., P. lamperos sp. nov., P. longipilosa sp. nov., P. lutea sp. nov., P. madinika sp. nov., P. mahaboensis sp. nov., P. maizina sp. nov., P. makaensis sp. nov., P. makirovana sp. nov., P. manantenensis sp. nov., P. mantadia sp. nov., P. marieannae sp. nov., P. masoala sp. nov., P. mavesatra sp. nov., P. miramila sp. nov., P. moramanaensis sp. nov., P. navoatrensis sp. nov., P. ocypodea sp. nov., P. parviocula sp. nov., P. podargea sp. nov., P. praegrandis sp. nov., P. ranohirensis sp. nov., P. rugocephala sp. nov., P. rugofitarata sp. nov., P. typhlos sp. nov., P. vatovavensis sp. nov., P. voasara sp. nov., P. vohemarensis sp. nov., and P. zavamanira sp. nov. At present, there are 69 valid species and subspecies of Pheidole known from Madagascar, but this number is expected to increase significantly with upcoming taxonomic revisions of the species groups not revised in this study.

SUBMITTER: Salata S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7004242 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Pheidole Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Madagascar - an introduction and a taxonomic revision of eleven species groups.

Salata Sebastian S Fisher Brian L BL

ZooKeys 20200120

The present study represents an introduction to the revision of Pheidole Westwood, 1839 from Madagascar. Sixteen species groups are established, of which eleven are revised below, and illustrated identification keys to species groups and species of groups revised in this monograph are presented. Two species are raised to species level: Pheidole petax Forel, 1895 stat. nov., and P. scabrata Forel, 1895 stat. nov. We also redescribe worker castes and designate le ...[more]

PMID: 32063726

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Project description:BackgroundThe Malagasy Region, one of the top megadiversity regions, hosts one of the highest numbers of endemic and threatened organisms on earth. One of the most spectacular examples of ant radiation on the island has occurred in the hyperdiverse genus Pheidole. To this date, there are 135 described Madagascan Pheidole divided into 16 species-groups, and 97% of Malagasy species are endemic to the island. This study is a taxonomic revision of the Pheidole megacephala group, one of only two species-groups comprising a combination of native, endemic taxa and widely distributed introduced species.MethodsThe diversity of the Malagasy members of the megacephala group was assessed via application of qualitative morphological and DNA sequence data. Qualitative, external morphological characteristics (e.g., head shape, gaster sculpture, body colouration) were evaluated in order to create a priori grouping hypotheses, and confirm and improve species delimitation. Mitochondrial DNA sequences from cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene fragments were analyzed to test the putative species previously delimited by morphological analyses.ResultsWe recognize three species belonging to the megacephala group: P. megacephala (Fabricius, 1793), P. megatron Fischer & Fisher, 2013 and P. spinosa Forel, 1891 stat. nov. Pheidole spinosa is redescribed and elevated to the species level. The following names are recognized as junior synonyms of P. spinosa: P. megacephala scabrior Forel, 1891 syn. nov., P. picata Forel, 1891 syn. nov., P. picata gietleni Forel, 1905 syn. nov., P. picata bernhardae Emery, 1915 syn. nov., and P. decepticon Fischer & Fisher, 2013 syn. nov. The results are supplemented with an identification key to species for major workers of the megacephala group, high-resolution images for major and minor workers, and comments on the distribution and biology of all Malagasy members of the group. Our study revealed that Pheidole megacephala, a species listed among the 100 worst invasive species worldwide, occurs in both natural and disturbed sites in the Malagasy region. The two remaining members of the megacephala group, most likely endemic to this region, are also present in anthropogenic habitats and often co-occur with P. megacephala. It appears that the Malagasy members of the group are generalists and dominant in anthropogenic habitats. Additionally, we documented the presence of supermajors in colonies of P. spinosa-a phenomenon previously not known for this group.

Project description:Stenamma is a cryptic "leaf-litter" ant genus that occurs in mesic forest habitats throughout the Holarctic region, Central America, and part of northwestern South America (Colombia and Ecuador). The genus was thought to be restricted primarily to the temperate zone, but recent collecting efforts have uncovered a large radiation of Neotropical forms, which rival the Holarctic species in terms of morphological and behavioral diversity. By inferring a broad-scale molecular phylogeny of Stenamma, Branstetter (2012) showed that all Neotropical species belong to a diverse Middle American clade (MAC), and that this clade is sister to an almost completely geographically separated Holarctic clade (HOC). Here, the Middle American clade of Stenamma is revised to recognize 40 species, of which 33 are described as new. Included in the revision are a key to species based on the worker caste, and for each species where possible, descriptions and images of workers and queens, images of males, information on geographic distribution, descriptions of intraspecific variation, and notes on natural history. Several species groups are defined, but the majority of species remain unassigned due to a lack of diagnostic morphological character states for most molecular clades. The following species are redescribed: Stenamma alas Longino, Stenamma diversum Mann, Stenamma expolitum Smith, Stenamma felixi Mann, Stenamma huachucanum Smith, Stenamma manni Wheeler, and Stenamma schmidti Menozzi. The following are described as new: Stenamma andersoni sp. n., Stenamma atribellum sp. n., Stenamma brujita sp. n., Stenamma callipygium sp. n., Stenamma catracho sp. n., Stenamma connectum sp. n., Stenamma crypticum sp. n., Stenamma cusuco sp. n., Stenamma excisum sp. n., Stenamma expolitico sp. n., Stenamma hojarasca sp. n., Stenamma ignotum sp. n., Stenamma lagunum sp. n., Stenamma llama sp. n., Stenamma leptospinum sp. n., Stenamma lobinodus sp. n., Stenamma longinoi sp. n., Stenamma maximon sp. n., Stenamma megamanni sp. n., Stenamma monstrosum sp. n., Stenamma muralla sp. n., Stenamma nanozoi sp. n., Stenamma nonotch sp. n., Stenamma ochrocnemis sp. n., Stenamma pelophilum sp. n., Stenamma picopicucha sp. n., Stenamma saenzae sp. n., Stenamma sandinista sp. n., Stenamma stictosomum sp. n., Stenamma tiburon sp. n., Stenamma tico sp. n., Stenamma vexator sp. n., and Stenamma zelum sp. n. Although many of the newly defined species consist of challenging species complexes, this study establishes a robust baseline that will guide future work on the systematics of MAC Stenamma. The total global diversity of Stenamma now includes 84 extant species.

Project description:BackgroundMadagascar is famous for its extremely rich biodiversity; the island harbors predominantly endemic and threatened communities meriting special attention from biodiversity scientists. Continuing ongoing efforts to inventory the Malagasy ant fauna, we revise the species currently placed in the myrmicine genus Aphaenogaster Mayr. One species described from Madagascar, Aphaenogaster friederichsi Forel, is synonymized with the Palearctic A. subterranea Latreille syn. nov. This species is considered neither native to Madagascar nor established in the region. This revision focuses on the balance of species in the A. swammerdami group which are all endemic to Madagascar.MethodsThe diversity of the Malagasy Aphaenogaster fauna was assessed via application of multiple lines of evidence involving quantitative morphometric, qualitative morphological, and DNA sequence data. (1) Morphometric investigation was based on hypothesis-free Nest Centroid clustering (NC-clustering) combined with PArtitioning based on Recursive Thresholding (PART) to estimate the number of morphological clusters and determine the most probable boundaries between them. This protocol provides a repeatable and testable approach to find patterns in continuous morphometric data. Species boundaries and the reliability of morphological clusters recognized by these exploratory analyses were tested via confirmatory Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). (2) Qualitative, external morphological characteristics (e.g., shape, coloration patterns, setae number) were subjectively evaluated in order to create a priori grouping hypotheses, and confirm and improve species delimitation. (3) Species delimitation analyses based on mitochondrial DNA sequences from cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene fragments were carried out to test the putative species previously delimited by morphological and morphometric analyses.ResultsFive species can be inferred based on the integrated evaluation of multiple lines of evidence; of these, three are new to science: Aphaenogaster bressleri sp. n., A. gonacantha (Emery, 1899), A. makay sp. n., A. sahafina sp. n., and A. swammerdami Forel, 1886. In addition, three new synonymies were found for A. swammerdami Forel, 1886 (A. swammerdami clara Santschi, 1915 syn. n., A. swammerdami curta Forel, 1891 syn. n. and A. swammerdami spinipes Santschi, 1911 syn. n.). Descriptions and redefinitions for each taxon and an identification key for their worker castes using qualitative traits and morphometric data are given. Geographic maps depicting species distributions and biological information regarding nesting habits for the species are also provided.

Dataset Information

Pheidole Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Madagascar - an introduction and a taxonomic revision of eleven species groups.

Publications

<i>Pheidole</i> Westwood, 1839 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Madagascar - an introduction and a taxonomic revision of eleven species groups.

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