Aenictus wroughtonii

Jaitrong, Weeyawat & Yamane, Seiki, 2011, Synopsis of Aenictus species groups and revision of the A. curra x and A. laeviceps groups in the eastern Oriental, Indo-Australian, and Australasian regions (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Aenictinae), Zootaxa 3128, pp. 1-46 : 10

Aenictus wroughtonii group

Diagnosis. Head narrow; occipital margin lacking collar. Antenna long, consisting of 10 segments, with a strikingly long scape attaining or extending beyond posterolateral corner of head (but in one Vietnamese species the scape shorter, not reaching posterolateral corner of head). Anterior clypeal margin roundly convex with 5–10 denticles. Mandible triangular, with masticatory margin bearing 8–12 minute inconspicuous denticles in addition to large apical tooth with a sharp apex; basal margin of mandible lacking denticles. Frontal carina short; parafrontal ridge feeble and incomplete. Mesosoma narrow and elongate. Legs very slender. Subpetiolar process weakly developed or almost absent.

Head and gaster entirely smooth and shiny. Nearly entire body clear yellow to yellowish brown; typhlatta spot absent.

Remarks. This species-group is separated from the other groups by the following characteristics: yellowish and slender body; antennal scape long, usually attaining or extending beyond posterolateral corner of head; anterior clypeal margin roundly convex with several denticles. In general appearance, the species of the A. wroughtonii group are similar to the smallest worker of A. inflatus . See under A. inflatus group.

Wilson (1964) treated A. biroi as a member of the A. ceylonicus group, but Jaitrong et al. (2010) removed it from this group and transferred it to the A. wroughtonii group because of the presence of denticles on the anterior clypeal margin in the worker.

Distribution. India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malay Peninsula (W. Malaysia), Sumatra, Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei), and Philippines (Negros and Luzon).

Currently valid names for the Oriental, Indo-Australian, and Australasian forms. A. artipus Wilson, 1964 ; A. biroi Forel, 1907 ; A. camposi Wheeler et Chapman, 1925 ; A. sagei Forel, 1901 ; A. stenocephalus Jaitrong et Yamane, 2010 ; A. vieti Jaitrong et Yamane, 2010 ; A. wroughtonii Forel, 1890 .