Dataset Information

Taxonomic revision of the Pheidole sikorae species group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Madagascar.

ABSTRACT: The present study represents a taxonomic revision of the Pheidole sikorae species group from Madagascar. Forty-four members of this group are recognised and described, and an illustrated identification key to this group is also presented. One species is raised to species level: P. litigiosa Forel, 1892 stat. nov. Pheidole veteratrix angustinoda Forel, 1892 syn. nov. is proposed as a junior synonym of Pheidole veteratrix Forel, 1891. Worker castes are also described and lectotypes designated for P. litigiosa Forel, 1892, P. sikorae Forel, 1891, and P. veteratrix Forel, 1891. The following 41 new species are described: P. alina sp. nov., P. ambohimanga sp. nov., P. analavelona sp. nov., P. andohahela sp. nov., P. anomala sp. nov., P. anosyenne sp. nov., P. antranohofa sp. nov., P. beanka sp. nov., P. befotaka sp. nov., P. dasos sp. nov., P. flavominuta sp. nov., P. gracilis sp. nov., P. haboka sp. nov., P. havoana sp. nov., P. hazo sp. nov., P. itremo sp. nov., P. joffreville sp. nov., P. kely sp. nov., P. lavasoa sp. nov., P. mahamavo sp. nov., P. mainty sp. nov., P. mamiratra sp. nov., P. manantenina sp. nov., P. masoandro sp. nov., P. mavohavoana sp. nov., P. midongy sp. nov., P. mikros sp. nov., P. mivory sp. nov., P. nitidobruna sp. nov., P. parvula sp. nov., P. parvulogibba sp. nov., P. renirano sp. nov., P. sava sp. nov., P. sofia sp. nov., P. sparsa sp. nov., P. tampony sp. nov., P. trichotos sp. nov., P. tsaravoniana sp. nov., P. vadum sp. nov., P. volontany sp. nov., and P. vony sp. nov. At present, there are 109 valid species and subspecies of Pheidole known from Madagascar, but this number is expected to increase with upcoming taxonomic revisions of the species groups not revised in this study.

SUBMITTER: Salata S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7381721 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Taxonomic revision of the Pheidole sikorae species group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Madagascar.

Salata Sebastian S Fisher Brian L BL

ZooKeys 20200715

The present study represents a taxonomic revision of the Pheidole sikorae species group from Madagascar. Forty-four members of this group are recognised and described, and an illustrated identification key to this group is also presented. One species is raised to species level: P. litigiosa Forel, 1892 stat. nov. Pheidole veteratrix angustinoda Forel, 1892 syn. nov. is proposed as a junior synonym of Pheidole veteratrix Forel, 1891. Worker castes are als ...[more]

PMID: 32765176

Similar Datasets

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: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

Taxonomic revision of the Pheidole sikorae species group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Madagascar.

Publications

Taxonomic revision of the <i>Pheidole sikorae</i> species group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Madagascar.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets