Taxonomic overview of the hyperdiverse ant genus Tetramorium Mayr (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in India with descriptions and X-ray microtomography of two new species from the Andaman Islands

PeerJ

article

Gaurav Agavekar¹  Francisco Hita Garcia³  Evan P. Economo³ 

[1] Master’s Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society – India Program and National Centre for Biological Sciences;National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research;Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

关键词: Micro-CT;    Cybertype;    Tetramorium inglebyi group;    Tetramorium tonganum group;    Ants;    Biodiversity;    Islands;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.3800

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

With 600 described species, the ant genus Tetramorium represents one of the most species-rich ant radiations. However, much work remains to fully document the hyperdiversity of this remarkable group. Tetramorium, while globally distributed, is thought to have originated in the Afrotropics and is particularly diverse in the Old World. Here, we focus attention on the Tetramorium fauna of India, a region of high biodiversity value and interest for conservation. We overview Tetramorium diversity in India by providing a species list, accounts of all species groups present, an illustrated identification key to Indian Tetramorium species groups and notes on the Indian Tetramorium fauna. Further, we describe two new species, Tetramorium krishnani sp. n. and Tetramorium jarawa sp. n. from the Andaman Islands archipelago and embed them into currently recognized Tetramorium tonganum and Tetramorium inglebyi species groups. We also provide illustrated species level keys for these groups. Along with detailed species descriptions and high-resolution montage images of types, we provide 3D cybertypes of the new species derived from X-ray micro-computed tomography.

【 授权许可】

CC BY