Monograph of Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the World, Part I: Nylanderia in the Afrotropics

Abstract

The taxonomy of the Afrotropical Nylanderia fauna is revised for the first time. Fourteen native species are revealed, of which eight are described as new: N. boltoni LaPolla and Fisher, N. brevisetula LaPolla and Fisher, N. impolita LaPolla and Fisher, N. luteafra LaPolla and Fisher, N. scintilla LaPolla and Fisher, N. silvula LaPolla and Fisher, N. umbella LaPolla and Fisher, and N. usambarica LaPolla, Hawkes and Fisher. Two species, N. jaegerskioeldi and N. natalensis, have workers that are indistinguishable from each other, and males are the only reliable way to separate these two species. Three non-native Nylanderia species are thought to have been introduced to Africa: N. bourbonica, N. vaga, and N. vividula. An identification key to the worker caste is provided.

The Importance of Using Multiple Approaches for Identifying Emerging Invasive Species: The Case of the Rasberry Crazy Ant in the United States

“…Within museum collections, misidentifications are common given the morphological similarities of the workers within the genus overall, as well as because of uncertainties regarding species boundaries. Until recently [30], [61] there has been little revisionary systematics work on Nylanderia . Thus in the literature and museum collections names have generally been haphazardly applied, without reference to or consideration of type specimens.…”

“…Nest averages were calculated for 14 standard morphometric measurements used in ant taxonomy (following LaPolla et al [30], including profemur length and profemur width) from 1–4 workers (Table S1). …”

Associations of ant species to land cover types and human disturbance in south‐west Gabon

“…In Ouanga, the following 11 species were present in less than five per cent of sites and thus were not included in the canonical correspondence analysis: Bothroponera FHG01, Camponotus FHG03, Crematogaster FHG01, C . FHG02, Lepisiota FHG01, Nylanderia umbella (Lapolla, Hawkes & Fisher, ), Pheidole caffra senilifrons (Wheeler, 1922), P . GF04, Plagiolepis FHG01, Polyrhachis latispina (Emery, 1925), and Solenopsis punctaticeps (Mayr, 1865).…”

“…We sampled ants found on the white card at least 1 h after the station was baited (maximum 107 min after baiting) and preserved them in a labelled vial filled with ethanol. Sampled specimens were determined by FHG and Georg Fischer (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) using Bolton (, , , , , ), Brown (), Lapolla, Hawkes & Fisher (), Rigato (), Schmidt & Shattuck () and Ward et al . ().…”

First description of the worker caste of Nylanderia smythiesii (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…As a part of world monographic series addressing the species-level taxonomy of the ant genus Nylanderia , LaPolla et al (2011b) revised this genus from Afrotropics whereas Kallal and LaPolla (2012) revised the Nearctic Nylanderia . While the majority of regions are awaiting taxonomic revision, most of the work prior to 2010 is under  Paratrechina .…”