Leptanilla hypodracos sp. n., a new species of the cryptic ant genus Leptanilla (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Singapore, with new distribution data and an updated key to Oriental Leptanilla species

Abstract

A new species of the cryptic and rarely collected ant genus Leptanilla is described. Leptanilla hypodracos sp. n. is the first Leptanilla recorded from Singapore in over a century since Leptanilla havilandi Forel, 1901 and represents the fourth species of Leptanilla known from the Malay Peninsula. An updated key to the Leptanilla of the Oriental region is presented. Taxonomic comparisons between Leptanilla hypodracos sp. n. and four morphologically similar species are provided with particular attention given to Leptanilla clypeata Yamane & Ito, 2001, for which new measurements and indices are presented. The first report is presented for the Leptanillinae subfamily from the southeastern part of China with a worker of the genus Leptanilla collected in Hong Kong. Finally, the potential of subterranean bait to collect Leptanilla species is discussed.

Leptanilla voldemort sp. nov., a gracile new species of the hypogaeic ant genus Leptanilla (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Pilbara, with a key to Australian Leptanilla

“…Given that a colony of L. swani was collected from under a large stone ( Wheeler 1932 ), it is reasonable to assume that L. swani inhabits the shallower layers of soil. Moreover, the generally compact body plan of L. swani resembles that of most other Leptanilla species that have been collected via the sifting of topsoil (10–20 cm depth) or via the installation of subterranean pitfall traps (10–50 cm depth) in the soil layer ( Wong and Guénard 2016 , 2017 ). In contrast, the distinctively gracile morphology of L. voldemort sp.…”

“…pitfall traps), which tend to target surface habitats ( Wong and Guénard 2017 ). In adaption to subterranean life, Leptanilla ants characteristically display cryptobiotic morphological traits; their workers are very small (often <2 mm), depigmented and blind ( Bolton 1990 ; Wong and Guénard 2016 ). The few observations of live Leptanilla colonies have also revealed intriguing, specialised behaviours, such as specialised predation on geophilomorph centipedes ( Masuko 1990 ), and adult feeding on haemolymph (i.e.…”

Digging Deeper into the Ecology of Subterranean Ants: Diversity and Niche Partitioning across Two Continents

“…obs.). Although our subterranean sampling was thorough (1024 baits per site), certain subfamilies which we were expecting [6,38], such as the Amblyoponinae (Prionopelta) and Leptanillinae (Leptanilla), even when present in pitfalls and Winkler samples in NSF, were absent from our subterranean samples. Potentially, the baits used were not potent enough in smell (compared to sardine baits) or were simply not adapted to these species' diets (geophilomorph centipedes [6]).…”

An updated checklist of Nepalese ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

“…Corsica, France.Leptanilla buddhista Baroni Urbani, 1977Distribution in Nepal. Bakhri Kharka, 1676 m, KH Hyatt leg., NHMUK; Lalitpur: Godawari (valle di Kathmandu), 1450 m, C Baroni Urbani, leg., NHMB (Baroni Urbani 1977a), Nepal(Wong and Guénard 2016).Mayriella Forel, 1902: 1 species Type-species. Mayriella abstinens Forel, 1902: 402, Type locality.…”