Taxonomy of the hyper-diverse ant genus Tetramorium Mayr in the Malagasy region (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) – first record of the T. setigerum species group and additions to the Malagasy species groups with an updated illustrated identification key

Abstract

In this study we provide an update to the taxonomy of the ant genus Tetramorium Mayr in Madagascar. We report the first record of the Tetramorium setigerum species group in Madagascar and describe the only Malagasy representative as Tetramorium cavernicola sp. n., which is known only from a cave in Ankarana. In addition, we provide an overview of the 19 proposed Malagasy species groups, and discuss their zoogeography and relationships to other groups and larger lineages within the hyper-diverse genus Tetramorium. At present, we recognise a highly unique Malagasy Tetramorium fauna with 113 species endemic to the island of Madagascar out of a total of 125 translating into an endemism rate of 93%. We hypothesise that this fauna is based on one or a few colonisation events from the Afrotropical region, with subsequent adaptive radiation in Madagascar. Furthermore, we present an updated and illustrated identification key to the Tetramorium species groups in the Malagasy region.

A taxonomic revision of seed harvester ants of the Tetramorium solidum group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in southern Africa

“…The terminology used in this paper is based mainly on the morphological terminology of Bolton (1980). Measurements and indices used in this paper follow Hita Garcia & Fisher (2015). All measurements and indices are presented as minimum and maximum, and are expressed in millimetres, with arithmetic means in parentheses.…”

“…The genus Tetramorium Mayr, 1855 is one of the most diverse and species-rich ant genera, with approximately 580 described species (Hita Garcia & Fisher 2015;Bolton 2017). It is distributed throughout most zoogeographical regions of the world but its highest diversity lies in the Afrotropical region, with about 250 described species (Bolton 1976(Bolton , 1980(Bolton , 1985Hita Garcia et al 2010a, 2010b, 2010cHita Garcia & Fisher 2013).…”

Taxonomic revision of Madagascan species of the Pheidole fervens species-group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

“…Regardless of the abundance and diversity of those genera, their taxonomy had been in a deficient state until recent times. One can estimate that the understanding of the diversity of Strumigenys [23], Camponotus [24][25][26][27], and Tetramorium [28][29][30][31][32] is fairly complete.…”

Taxonomic overview of the hyperdiverse ant genusTetramoriumMayr (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in India with descriptions and X-ray microtomography of two new species from the Andaman Islands

“…The taxonomic foundation for the genus is in a relatively good condition thanks to the initial comprehensive taxonomic treatments by Bolton (1976 , 1977 , 1979 , 1980 ) who revised all the regions except for the Palearctic. These works were the foundation for recent revisionary works focusing on the Afrotropical ( Hita Garcia & Fischer, 2014 ; Hita Garcia, Fischer & Peters, 2010 ; Hita Garcia & Fisher, 2013 , 2014a ), Malagasy ( Hita Garcia & Fisher, 2011 , 2012a , 2012b , 2014b , 2015 ), and Palearctic regions ( Csösz, Radchenko & Schulz, 2007 ; Csösz & Schulz, 2010 ). Nevertheless, the Indomalayan Tetramorium fauna as a whole or in parts was not revised since Bolton (1977) , and our knowledge of Indomalayan Tetramorium diversity has only slightly grown through some smaller regional treatments or insular single species descriptions ( Bharti, 2011 ; Bharti & Kumar, 2012 ; Schlick-Steiner, Steiner & Zettel, 2006 ; Sheela & Narendran, 1998 ; Sorger, 2011 ; Yamane & Jaitrong, 2011 ).…”