Vollenhovia keralensis Kripakaran & Sadasivan, 2022

Akbar, Shahid Ali, Bharti, Himender, Schifani, Enrico & Wachkoo, Aijaz Ahmad, 2023, Overview of the ant genus Vollenhovia (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in India and Sri Lanka, with an illustrated key and the description of a new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 908, pp. 77-107 : 84-87

Vollenhovia keralensis Kripakaran & Sadasivan, 2022

Fig. 5

Vollenhovia keralensis Kripakaran & Sadasivan in Sadasivan & Kripakaran, 2022: 21381.

Type locality: India, Kerala, Trivandrum Bonaccord, Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary [Holotype TNHS; images of holotype worker examined in Sadasivan & Kripakaran 2022].

Material examined

INDIA • 8 workers; Kerala, Periyar Tiger Reserve; 9°48′ N, 77°24′ E; alt. 1005 m; 17 Oct. 2011; hand picking; S.A. Akbar leg.; PUAC0026 to PUAC0033 ; 4 workers; Periyar Tiger Reserve, Manalar ; 9°35′ N, 77°18′ E; alt. 1630 m; 27 Oct. 2011; hand picking; leg. S.A. Akbar leg.; PUAC0034 to PUAC0037 .

Worker measurements & indices (12 specimens, 2 colonies, 2 localities)

CL 0.65–0.70 (0.67), CW 0.56–0.58 (0.57), CS 0.60–0.63 (0.62), EL 0.13–0.15 (0.14), ML 0.80–0.92 (0.85), PEH 0.35–0.37 (0.36), PEL 0.22–0.26 (0.24), PEW 0.23–0.24 (0.24), PPH 0.21–0.22 (0.21), PPL 0.23–0.27 (0.24), PPW 0.24–0.25 (0.24), PW 0.42–0.51 (0.47), SL 0.38–0.40 (0.39) mm. Indices: CL/ CW 1.12–1.25 (1.17), EL/ CS 0.21–0.24 (0.22), ML / CS 1.30–1.47 (1.38), PEH/ CS 0.56–0.60 (0.58), PEL/ CS 0.36–0.43 (0.39), PEW / CS 0.37–0.40 (0.38), PPH/ CS 0.34–0.37 (0.35), PPL/ CS 0.37–0.44 (0.39), PPW/ CS 0.38–0.42 (0.39), PW / CS 0.68–0.82 (0.76), SL/ CS 0.60–065 (0.63).

Remarks

This species from the Western Ghats closely resembles V. karimalaensis from the same region but can be separated based on the number of mandible teeth, the sculpture, and the petiole shape (see Remarks under V. karimalaensis ). It is one of the few species of the genus of which all three castes have been described ( Sadasivan & Kripakaran 2022). We were able to collect specimens from two new localities in the Periyar Tiger Reserve under the bark of a log; the general vegetation and overview of one of the collecting sites are shown in Fig. 5D .

Distribution

India (Kerala) ( Sadasivan & Kripakaran 2022).

Figures

Fig. 5. Vollenhovia keralensis Kripakaran & Sadasivan, 2022, worker from India (PUAC0026, photographer: Shahid Ali Akbar). A. Head, full face view. B. Habitus, lateral view. C. Habitus, dorsal view. D. Type locality.