Lasius alienoflavus Bingham, 1903

Bharti, Himender & Gul, Irfan, 2014, First description of the male caste of the Himalayan endemic ant Lasiusalienoflavus Bingham, 1903 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with re-description of the female and queen castes, Biodiversity Data Journal 2, pp. 1136-1136 : 1136

Lasius alienoflavus Bingham, 1903

Lasius alienoflavus Bingham, 1903 - Bingham 1903: 341 (w.q.) India

Lasius (Cautolasius) alienoflavus - Wilson 1955: 111; Collingwood 1982: 290.

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Irfan Gul; sex: 23 workers; Location: country: India; stateProvince: North-West Himalaya; verbatimLocality: Himachal Pradesh: Khajjiar; maximumElevationInMeters: 2100; Event: eventDate: 2010-07-01; Record Level: collectionCode: Insect (Ants)

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Irfan Gul; sex: 63 workers; Location: country: India; stateProvince: North-West Himalaya; verbatimLocality: Himachal Pradesh: Kharapathar; maximumElevationInMeters: 2800; Event: eventDate: 2008-08-13; Record Level: collectionCode: Insect (Ants)

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Irfan Gul; sex: 20 workers, 2 queens, 1 male; Location: country: India; stateProvince: North-West Himalaya; verbatimLocality: Himachal Pradesh: Manali; maximumElevationInMeters: 1800; Event: eventDate: 2010-06-17; Record Level: collectionCode: Insect (Ants)

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Irfan Gul; sex: 3 workers; Location: country: India; stateProvince: North-West Himalaya; verbatimLocality: Himachal Pradesh: Sungri; maximumElevationInMeters: 2600; Event: eventDate: 2008-08-14; Record Level: collectionCode: Insect (Ants)

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Irfan Gul; sex: 62 worker; Location: country: India; stateProvince: North-West Himalaya; verbatimLocality: Jammu & Kashmir: Sarthal; maximumElevationInMeters: 3000; Event: eventDate: 2010-06-04; Record Level: collectionCode: Insect (Ants)

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Irfan Gul; sex: 105 workers, 3 queens; Location: country: India; stateProvince: North-West Himalaya; verbatimLocality: Uttarakhand: Gangotri; maximumElevationInMeters: 3000; Event: eventDate: 2010-06-04; Record Level: collectionCode: Insect (Ants)

Description

Worker

Fig. 1

Measurements: HL 0.82-0.91; HW 0.75-0.86; EL 0.12-0.15; EW 0.09-0.12; SL 0.70-0.80; WL 0.88-1.04; PW 0.20-0.24; GL 0.61-1.05; HS 0.78-0.88; CI 101-109; EI 15-18; SI1 80-88; SI2 85-95; nHS+nHHT <8; TL 2.5-2.8. n = 32.

Head: Head roughly rectangular in full face view (CI = 101-109); posterior margin of head straight; posterolateral corners rounded; a few setae present closer to posterior margin of head but not reaching the hind margin of eyes and less denser than in Lasius elevatus Bharti et Gul, 2013; lateral sides of head more-or-less parallel, somewhat narrowing anteriorly; anterior clypeal margin broadly convex, clypeal carina absent; lateral clypeal profile convex; eyes almost round, size larger as compared to other species of the same group (EI = 15-18); mandibles triangular, the masticatory margin with 7 to 8 teeth, rarely 9, including denticles; antennae 12 segmented, scape long, distinctly surpassing the posterior margin of head (SI1 = 80-88, SI2 = 85-95).

Mesosoma and petiole: Mesosoma with weakly convex promesonotal dorsum slightly depressed at the suture; propodeal dome rather hemispheric, as high as mesonotum, posterior slope of propodeum somewhat straight; area between propodeal spiracle and metapleural gland without distinct setae; in frontal view petiole with weakly convex sides and rather straight dorsum, in profile with steep and slightly convex anterior face and straight posterior face; gaster more-or-less ovate.

Sculpture and pilosity: Head and mesosoma with shallow micropunctures; in general body smooth and fairly shiny with scattered pilosity; body covered with suberect to erect setae, abundant and longest on gaster; cuticular surface covered with smooth and rather dense pubescence; genae without standing hairs or setae; scape with subdecumbent to decumbent pubescence, a few setae present at the proximal end; hind tibia pubescence smooth, setae are normally present at the proximal end.

Colour: The species is light to dark yellow in colour; the masticatory margin dark brownish and the eyes black in colour; pubescence pale-yellow.

Queen

Fig. 2

Measurements: HL 1.12-1.15; HW 1.32-1.37; EL 0.34-0.36; EW 0.26-0.27; SL 1.0-1.02; WL 2.33-2.45; PW 0.24-0.26; GL 2.30-2.70; HS 1.24-1.26; CI 81-84; EI 25-26; SI1 87-89; SI2 73-74; TL 5.7-6.3. n = 2.

Resembles the worker, with modifications expected for caste and the following differences: body massive, hairy; lateral sides of head subparallel, narrowing towards the anterior margin; eyes much larger; mesosoma enlarged, dorsally flat, scutum and scutellum at the same level, propodeal declivity very steep; in profile view petiole compressed, in frontal view dorsum emarginate; gaster long and gibbous; setae scattered all over and short; head, mesosoma and gaster dark brown, legs dark yellow in colour.

Male

Fig. 3

Measurements: HL 0.6; HW 0.7; EL 0.27; EW 0.18; SL 0.48; WL 1.3; PW 0.25; GL 1.7; HS 0.65; CI 86; EI 38; SI1 80; SI2 68; TL 3.6. n = 1.

Head: Head roughly squarein full face view (CI = 86); Head broader at the posterior margin, narrowingtowards the anterior margin; posterior margin of head slightly convex; posterolateral corners rounded; Hairsdenser towards the posterior margin of head; lateral sides of head distinctly narrowinganteriorily; eyes very large, bulging beyond head outline in full-frontal view (EI = 38); three prominent ocelli present at the centre; antennae 13 segmented, filiform; scape long, distinctly surpassing the posterior margin of head (SI1 = 80; SI2 = 68); clypeus smooth, without any carina in the middle; anterior clypeal margin broadly convex; lateral clypeal profile convex; mandiblewith an apical tooth and 3 denticles at the centre of masticatory margin.

Mesosoma and petiole: Mesosomaenlarged to accommodate flight muscles; pronotum small; scutum smooth; scutellum somewhat raised; declivity steep; in frontal view petiole dorsallyround; gaster lengthened, tapering towards the apex.

Sculptureand pilosity: Ingeneral body smooth with scattered pilosity; body covered with suberect toerect setae, abundant and longest on gaster; cuticular surface covered withsmooth and rather dense pubescence abundant towards the apex of gaster, antennaeand legs; Hairs more dense on the posterior margin of head, sparselydistributed over rest of the head; standinghairs or setae on genae sparse; mandibles with a few setae at the apicalportion; a few setae present on the anterior margin of clypeus; small blunthairs thinly present on the eyes; scape with subdecumbent to decumbentpubescence, a few setae present at the proximal end; hind tibia pubescencesmooth, setae are normally present at the proximal end.

Genitals: Paramereselongated, roughly triangular, covered with long setae; cuspi with short peg-like teeth and bent towards digiti; digiti straight and long, about 3 timesas long as cuspi with round dorsum; penis valve projecting.

Colour: brown with a blackish tinge; eyes black; legs and wings creamy-yellowish; body smooth and somewhat shiny all over.

Distribution

The overall distribution of the species is from the Himalaya but the specimens used for this study have been collected from the North-west range of Himalaya. All the collection areas were forested mountains surrounded by other mountains. The nests were very close to the surface with a depth of 3-5 inches. The soil surrounding the nest was mainly moist and covered by herbs. 23 specimens were collected from Winkler extraction.

Taxon discussion

Lasius alienoflavus Bingham, 1903 is well marked off from other reports of this genus and is a distinct species. However, it resembles Lasius flavus (Fabricius) but can be readily distinguished from it by having the apical segment of the maxillary palp longer than the preapical one (vs. preapical segment of maxillary palp longer or equal to the apical segment in Lasius flavus ).