Calyptomyrmex wittmeri Baroni Urbani, 1975

Akbar, Shahid Ali & Bharti, Himender, 2015, First verified record of the ant genus Calyptomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from India, along with a revised key to known Indomalayan species, Biodiversity Data Journal 3, pp. 5420-5420 : 5420

Calyptomyrmex wittmeri Baroni Urbani, 1975

Calyptomyrmex wittmeri Baroni Urbani, 1975 - Baroni Urbani (1975): 396, figs. 1, 5 (w.) BHUTAN.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: C. Baroni Urbani, O. Stemmler, W. Wittmer, M. Würmli; individualCount: 1; sex: worker; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificName: Calyptomyrmexwittmeri; Location: country: Bhutan; locality: Phuntsholing, Thimphu km 14 ; georeferenceProtocol: label; Identification: identifiedBy: C. Baroni Urbani; dateIdentified: 1975; Event: eventDate: Feb-12-1970; Record Level: language: Italian; collectionCode: Insects; ownerInstitutionCode: MHMBXXI.V.d.36333, Basel, Switzerland; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: CASENT0900994 ; recordedBy: C. Baroni Urbani, O. Stemmler, W. Wittmer, M. Würmli; individualCount: 1; sex: worker; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificName: Calyptomyrmexwittmeri; Location: country: Bhutan; locality: Phuntsholing, Thimphu km 14 ; georeferenceProtocol: label; Identification: identifiedBy: C. Baroni Urbani; dateIdentified: 1975; Event: eventDate: Feb-12-1970; Record Level: language: Italian; collectionID: ANTC20153; collectionCode: Insects; ownerInstitutionCode: BMNH#1014394, London, U.K.; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen; source: https://www.antweb.org/specimen/CASENT0900994 Type status: Other material. Occurrence: catalogNumber: CASENT0280817 ; recordedBy: Besuchet, Löbl, Mussard; individualCount: 1; sex: worker; lifeStage: adult; Location: country: India; stateProvince: Kerala; locality: Cardamon Hills, Valara Falls, 46 km SW Munnar ; verbatimElevation: 450m; georeferenceProtocol: label; Identification: identifiedBy: W. L. Brown; dateIdentified: 1972; Event: eventDate: 25/11/1972; Record Level: language: en; collectionID: ANTC19915; collectionCode: Insects; ownerInstitutionCode: BMNH#1017692, London, U. K.; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen; source: https://www.antweb.org/specimen/CASENT0280817 Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Shahid A. Akbar; individualCount: 3; sex: worker; lifeStage: adult; Taxon: scientificName: Calyptomyrmexwittmeri; Location: country: India; stateProvince: Kerala; locality: Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary ; verbatimElevation: 50m; Identification: identifiedBy: H. Bharti & Akbar, S.A.; dateIdentified: 2011; Event: samplingProtocol: Winkler extraction; eventDate: 06/11/2011; Record Level: language: en; collectionCode: Insects; ownerInstitutionCode: PUAC; basisOfRecord: PreservedSpecimen

Description

Worker (Fig. 1).

Worker measurements: CFW 0.11-0.12; CI 92.75-93.05: HL 0.61-0.64; HW 0.67-0.68; PetI 134-136; PetL 0.16-0.20; PetW 0.24-0.27; PronW 0.31-0.39; SI 50-52; SL 0.24-0.26.

Head globular in full face view, with posterior margin more or less rounded. Clypeus with a broad bilobed fork-like cuticular projection on its anterior-most part. Masticatory margin with 5-teeth. Eyes with 6-8 ommatidia in greatest diameter. Antennae 12-segmented with 3-segmented club.

Mesosoma short and stubby, forming a continuous arch in profile;promesonotal suture not distinct in dorsal view. Metanotal groove indistinct. Propodeal declivity concave. Propodeum in lateral view with broad triangular spines, somewhat divergent in dorsal view. Petiole penduculate, with stocky petiolar node. In dorsal view, anterior face of petiolar node straight while posterior face slightly concave in the middle.

Gaster rounded; truncated anteriorly.

Mandibles' dorsal face striate along entire length. Dorsum of head having confused network of striations. Underlying surface distinctly punctuate. Mesosoma, petiolar and postpetiolar nodes with irregular, widely spaced striations, which are more prominent along sides of pronotum and dorsal surface of petiole. Gaster with a fine matte appearance.

Hairs on head and body erect, slightly broader in posterior half with sharp or blunt tips.

Colour dark-brown, the antennae and legs slightly lighter.

Diagnosis

The species is distinct in having body covered with hair only sharp or truncated, but virtually never dilated in any way ( Baroni Urbani 1975).

Distribution

India (Southern India), Sri Lanka.

Ecology

Specimens of this species were collected through Winkler extraction method from Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Kerala.

Biology

The specimens were encountered in leaf-litter samples. Little is known about the biology of the ant.