Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872

Yoshimura, Masashi & Fisher, Brian L., 2011, A revision of male ants of the Malagasy region (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Key to genera of the subfamily Dolichoderinae, Zootaxa 2794, pp. 1-34 : 14-15

Technomyrmex Mayr, 1872

( Figs 5, 10, 15, 22, 28, 33, 38, 45, 48, 54, 61, 66, 71, 76, 81)

With characters of Dolichoderinae . Ergatoid males known, but all males in Malagasy region alate. Medial hypostoma present ( Fig. 66). Mandible triangular, but its basal angle indistinct. Basal margin and masticatory margin of mandible wholly covered with serrate denticles ( Fig. 76). Apical tooth on masticatory margin longer than subapical one. Palpal formula 6,4 (one specimen of each of eight species dissected: Fig. 81). Third maxillary palpal segment shorter than or as long as fourth. Concavity on distal margin of labrum absent in most cases; when visible, it is much reduced in size and longest setae located distant from apices of lobes ( Fig. 71). Scape excluding its basal condyle shorter than length of flagellar segments 1 + 2. Pedicel conical ( Fig. 5). First and second flagellar segments straight. Axillae medially compressed, anterior and posterior margins not parallel. Petiolar node strongly inclined anteriorly, its anterior margin much shorter than posterior margin in lateral view, not much expanded laterally. Petiole narrowly attached to abdominal segment III. Anterior surface of abdominal segment III with indentation that fits posterior surface of petiolar node. Pygostyles present.

Distal portion of abdominal sternum IX bilobed, its distal margin widely concave ( Fig. 28). Apicoventral portion of basimere without projection. Harpago moderate in size, separated from basimere only by suture, without membranous region between them ( Figs 33, 38), expanded mesally in ventral view, forming distinct and more or less flat ventral face ( Fig. 22). Basal portion of aedeagus does not bear distinct ventral lobe ( Fig. 45).

Forewing not extremely elongated apical to wing stigma, its radial sector reaches to costal margin ( Fig. 54), media partially absent between Rs+M and 2 rs-m, and 1 m-cu absent in many cases. On hindwing, M+ Cu absent , M+ 1 m-cu, free sections of radial sector and cubitus, and cu-a absent ( Fig. 61).

Remarks. Males of nine species were examined. They are distinguished easily from those of the four other Malagasy dolichoderine genera by the ventral portion of the harpago, which is expanded mesally to form a ventral face ( Fig. 22), and the absence of M+Cu on the hindwing ( Fig. 61). Technomyrmex and Aptinoma uniquely share the following characters: the basal margin of the mandible is wholly covered with serrate denticles ( Fig. 76) and the concavity on the distal margin of the labrum is reduced ( Fig. 71). In Technomyrmex and Tapinoma the petiolar node is inclined. The central notch of the labrum is reduced in size or absent , although it is still visible in several males of Technomyrmex . When the notch is visible in Technomyrmex , the longest setae on the labrum are located distant from the apices of the lobes formed by the central notch, while in the other dolichoderine genera with bilobed labrum, the setae are mostly located on the apex of each lobe ( Figs 68–70).

Several of the present results for Technomyrmex disagree with previous studies. A median notch or groove on the anterior margin of the median hypostoma is found in all males of Technomyrmex ( Fig. 66), while the margin in Shattuck ( 1992 a) is regarded as entire. The inner margin of the eye in full-face view is slightly concave in most species, while in Shattuck ( 1992 a) the margin is regarded as flat. The anteromedial margin of the clypeus is not concave in several species ( T. difficilis , T. fisheri , and T. innocens ); the margin of Technomyrmex in Shattuck ( 1992 a, 1995) and Brandão et al. ( 1999) is treated as broadly concave. The relative length of the first flagellomere compared with its width varies from less than two times to three times (see Table 4), while the length in Shattuck ( 1992 a) is regarded as less than two times. Abdominal segment III does not always cover the petiole completely by overhanging it anteriorly in Technomyrmex (e.g. T. mayri ), although this segment in Technomyrmex in Shattuck ( 1992 a, 1995) is regarded as overhanging the petiole so that the latter is invisible in dorsal view. The cuspis on the volsella is absent in one species ( T. madecassus : Fig. 48), while regarded as present in Technomyrmex by Shattuck ( 1992 a, 1995).

Additional discussion of characters is included in the remarks for Ochetellus .