Abstract Abstract
A new species of carpenter ant, collected in the Shivalik range of Himalaya is described and illustrated based on the worker and gyne castes under the name Camponotus parabarbatus sp. n. Presence of dense, short setae on gena and ventral surface of head resembles it most to Camponotus barbatus Roger, 1863 distributed in Southeast Asia. A regional identification key of Camponotus species is provided from the Shivalik hills of Indian Himalaya.
Keywords: India, Himalaya, Formicinae , Camponotus , new species
Introduction
Carpenter ants are among the largest and most common ants in the world and are found in all biogeographical regions (Bolton 2012, Bolton et al. 2007). Currently 1,058 species, 495 subspecies and 31 fossil species of Camponotus are known worldwide (Bolton 2012), with 62 species and subspecies reported from India (Bharti 2011). Despite their large size and abundance, carpenter ants are difficult to identify. Although Karmaly and Narendran (2006) compiled the Camponotus of India, their taxonomy in India remains problematic and chaotic. Taxonomy of Camponotus in India needs attention as Bharti (2011) highlights major changes in the taxa included earlier by Karmaly and Narendran (2006).
The significant contributions pertinent to this study include Bingham (1903), Menozzi (1939), Morisita et al. (1991), Wu and Wang (1995), Radchenko (1996), Zhou (2001), Karmaly and Narendran (2006) and Terayama (2009). Here we describe a new Indian species, Camponotus parabarbatus sp. n., collected in Shivalik range of Northwest Himalaya. An identification key of Camponotus species is provided from the Shivalik hills of Indian Himalaya.
Materials and methods
The specimens were collected by hand in the foothills of Indian Himalaya, the Shivalik range. Specimen examination was conducted with a Nikon SMZ 1500 stereomicroscope. For digital images, an MP evolution digital camera was used on the same microscope using Auto-Montage (Syncroscopy, Division of Synoptics, Ltd.) software. These images were processed with Adobe Photoshop CS5. Holotype and paratypes have been deposited in PUPAC, Punjabi University Patiala Ant Collection, Patiala. One paratype will be deposited at BMNH, Natural History Museum, London, UK and one at California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA. Morphological definitions for measurements (accurate to 0.01 mm) include:
TL;
HL;
HW;
EL;
SL;
ML;
PW;
PL;
mTbL;
hTbL;
GL.
Taxon treatments
Camponotus parabarbatus
Bharti & Wachkoo, 2014 sp. n.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2A5E348D-3C27-4194-B147-9CACF67854CF
Materials
Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Aijaz A. Wachkoo; individualCount: 1; sex: worker; Location: country: India; stateProvince: Himachal Pradesh; locality: Rewalsar; verbatimElevation: 1360 m; verbatimLatitude: 31.6345°N; verbatimLongitude: 76.8343°E
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Aijaz A. Wachkoo; individualCount: 5; sex: 2 workers, 3 gynes; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; stateProvince: Himachal Pradesh; locality: Rewalsar; verbatimElevation: 1360 m; verbatimLatitude: 31.6345°N; verbatimLongitude: 76.8343°E
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Aijaz A. Wachkoo; individualCount: 6; sex: workers; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; stateProvince: Uttarakhand; verbatimElevation: 640 m; verbatimLatitude: 30.3416°N; verbatimLongitude: 77.9903°E; Record Level: institutionCode: Forest Research Institute
Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Aijaz A. Wachkoo; individualCount: 8; sex: workers; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; stateProvince: Uttarakhand; locality: Rajaji Forest Area; verbatimElevation: 660 m; verbatimLatitude: 30.2483°N; verbatimLongitude: 77.9878°E
Description
Description of worker (Fig. 1):
Camponotus parabarbatus Bharti & Wachkoo.
Figure 1a.
Major worker Head, full face view.
Figure 1b.
Major worker Body, lateral view.
Figure 1c.
Major worker Body, dorsal view.
Figure 1d.
Minor worker Head, full face view.
Figure 1e.
Minor worker Body, lateral view.
Figure 1f.
Minor worker Body, dorsal view.
Worker measurements: TL: 5.10–6.85, HL: 1.23–1.98, HW: 0.92–1.70, EL: 0.32–0.41, SL: 1.15–1.39, ML: 1.87–2.38, PW: 0.77–1.15, PL: 0.19–0.23, mTbL: 1.00–1.06, hTbL: 1.36–1.44, GL 1.80-2.28 (n = 11).
Head: Head subtriangular, longer than wide in major worker (HW/HL = 0.86, n = 1), with arched margins laterally, posterior margin shallowly concave (Fig. 1a), distinctly elongate in minor worker (HW/HL = 0.75–0.77, n = 10), subrectangular with subparallel lateral margins and convex posterior margin; frontal carinae sinuous; clypeus in full-face view with anterior margin projected beyond anterior margin of gena; anterolateral corner of clypeus forming right angle, carinate in major worker, in minor worker clypeus relatively less carinate, with anterior margin only slightly extending beyond anterior margin of gena, anterolateral corner broadly rounded; scape short (SL/HW = 0.68), fails to reach occipital margin in major worker, distinctly elongate in minor worker (SL/HW = 1.18–1.44) surpassing posterior margin by about 0.33 of its length; mandible with six teeth in minor and seven in major with seventh tooth reduced.
Mesosoma: Mesosomal outline in lateral view smoothly arched; propodeal dorsum forming obtuse angle with declivity (Fig. 1c); propodeum compressed laterally; propodeal spiracle round; tibia tubular.
Petiole: petiolar scale broad, dorsally convex.
Sculpture: Head microreticulate, reticulation coarser on gena; mesosoma finely reticulate, gastral reticulations even feebler, appearing gently transversally striate. Mandible and scape with scattered punctures. Entire body shiny.
Vestiture: Pilosity yellowish; head, mesosoma, and all gaster segments with dense, erect, long setae; gena, entire ventral surface of head and mandible with dense shorter erect and suberect setae; scape with short, subapressed hairs; hindtibia without row of spiny bristles on ventral margin in addition to 3–4 suberect setae at distal end near spurs; body covered with very short, appressed, white pubescence, more distinct on head and gaster.
Color: Body black, regardless of size: antenna and leg reddish brown; trochanters yellow brown.
Description of Gyne (Fig. 2):
Camponotus parabarbatus Bharti & Wachkoo.
Figure 2a.
Gyne Head, full face view.
Figure 2b.
Gyne Body, lateral view.
Figure 2c.
Gyne Body, dorsal view.
Gyne measurements: TL: 9.06–9.25, HL: 1.97–2.00, HW: 1.48–1.55, EL: 0.51–0.56, SL: 1.26–1.27, ML: 2.74–2.94, PL: 0.23–0.28, mTbL: 1.12–1.14, hTbL: 1.53–1.54; GL 4.03-4.12 (n = 3).
As in major worker, with modifications expected for caste and the following differences: head more elongate, sides relatively straight, occipital margin convex; mandible, clypeus and gena brownish. Head narrower than in conspecific major workers; mandible 7 toothed; scape barely reaches the posterior margin of head. Reticulate sculpture more pronounced on head; scutum with scattered wide, shallow punctures. Propodeum dorsum forms right angle with declivity.
Etymology
The species epithet parabarbatus is a compound word meaning “similar to barbatus”.
Distribution
This species seems to be rare in the Shivalik range of Northwest Himalaya although collected from both forested and non-forested areas of the region. Most workers were collected from vegetation while gynes and some workers were found under a large stone.
Notes
Camponotus parabarbatus resembles to the Camponotus barbatus distributed in Southeast Asia (Bolton et al. 2007) but can be easily distinguished from the latter. The head of the major worker of Camponotus parabarbatus is subtriangular with a shallowly concave posterior margin, the eyes well within the lateral cephalic margins, and the scape barely touches the posterior margin of head, while in Camponotus barbatus majors the head is subrectangular with gently convex posterior margin, eyes almost touching the lateral cephalic margins, scape surpasses the posterior margin of head by about 0.25 of its length. In Camponotus parabarbatus minor workers, the scape surpasses the posterior margin of head by about 0.33 of its length, whilst in Camponotus barbatus the scape does so by half its length. Additionally, Camponotus parabarbatus is uniformly jet-black whereas Camponotus barbatus is red brown in color.
Identification Keys
Key to the workers of Camponotus in Shivalik hills of Indian Himalaya
| 1 | Mesosomal profile continuous, forming a regular arch; the metanotal groove very shallow | 5 |
| – | Mesosomal profile discontinuous, not forming a regular arch; interrupted at the deep metanotal groove | 2 |
| 2 | Propodeal spiracle round or oval | 3 |
| – | Propodeal spiracle elongate, slit shaped | 4 |
| 3 | Pronotum dentate; body very densely pilose; hindtibia without spiny bristles on ventral margin | Camponotus wasmanni Emery |
| – | Pronotum edentate; body sparsely pilose; hindtibia with spiny bristles on ventral margin | Camponotus opaciventris Mayr |
| 4 | Petiole emarginate above; entirely black | Camponotus horseshoetus Datta & Raychaudhuri |
| – | Petiole rounded above; head and mesosoma reddish, gaster blackish | Camponotus nirvanae Forel |
| 5 | Gaster covered with fine sericeous pubescence | Camponotus parius Emery |
| – | Gaster without any fine sericeous pubescence | 6 |
| 6 | Clypeus in full-face view with broadly rounded anterolateral corner; free margin distinctly emarginated medially | Camponotus himalayanus Forel |
| – | Clypeus in full-face view with right-angled anterolateral corner; free margin entire | 7 |
| 7 | Tibiae compressed, prismatic | 9 |
| – | Tibiae tubular, not prismatic | 8 |
| 8 | Black and shining; setae on lateral and ventral sufraces of head dense | Camponotus parabarbatus sp. n. |
| – | Mesosoma light brown, head and gaster blackish, relatively dull; setae on lateral and ventral surfaces of head sparse | Camponotus oblongus binominatus Forel |
| 9 | Hind tibiae without longitudinal row of spiny bristles on ventral margin in addition to 3–4 suberect setae apically, near spurs | 10 |
| – | Hindtibia with at least one row of spiny bristles on ventral margin | 11 |
| 10 | Head and gaster blackish-brown or black; mesosoma and leg yellow-brown to ferruginous-red | Camponotus mitis (Smith, F.) |
| – | Body uniformly dark black | Camponotus lamarckii Forel |
| 11 | Body completely black | Camponotus compressus (Fabricius) |
| – | Body not completely black | 12 |
| 12 | Head, mesosoma and leg ferruginous-red to reddish-brown; gaster reddish brown or blackish-brown | Camponotus sylvaticus basalis Smith, F. |
| – | Head black; mesosoma and gaster and legs partly yellow brown | Camponotus kattensis Bingham |
Supplementary Material
Acknowledgements
Financial assistance rendered by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (Grant No. 14/10/2007-ERS/RE), Govt. of India, New Delhi is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Ms. Christiana Klingenberg for providing digital images of type material of Camponotus barbatus.
Author contributions
Equally contributed.
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