Myrmoteras scabrum Moffett, 1985 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), A Rare ant of Western Ghats of India
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Myrmoteras scabrum Moffett, 1985 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), A Rare ant of Western Ghats of India Shahid Ali Akbar1
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Himender Bharti2
Received: 21 February 2019 / Revised: 9 January 2020 / Accepted: 11 January 2020 The National Academy of Sciences, India 2020
Abstract Myrmoteras scabrum Moffett, 1985 is located again in Western Ghats. The species was described based upon a single specimen collected from Cannanore District of Western Ghats by Moffett (Bull Mus Comp Zool 151(1):1–53, 1985) Only the second known specimen of this species from Thanikuddy region of Periyar Tiger reserve is discovered here. Auto-montage images of the species are provided herewith along with notes on its biology. Keywords Ants Endemic Western Ghats Rare India
The genus Myrmoteras Forel, 1893 is currently represented by 41 valid species distributed mainly in Oriental and the Austro-Malayan subregion of the Australian region [1]. These species are infrequent in collections, rare in occurrence and perhaps represent the most aberrant ants in the Formicinae [1, 2]. From India, five species are reported [3, 4], among which Myrmoteras scabrum Moffett, 1985 is the most distinct species with its heavily sculptured head and trunk. The species was described based on the single worker collected from Cannanore District, Peria Reserve, Western Ghats, India, by Moffett [5]. The holotype of the same is deposited in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZC) in the Harvard University.
A comprehensive survey across various localities of Western Ghats of India was carried from the year 2010 to 2013. A total of 173 species of ants belonging to 65 genera were recorded [6]. A single specimen of M. scabrum from Thanikuddy region of Periyar Tiger reserve, Kerala, India, was also collected during these surveys. The specimen is currently housed at Punjabi University Patiala, Ant Collection, Patiala, India (PUAC). The Periyar Tiger Reserve is located at Idukki (Kerala), between 9 150 to 9 400 N and 76 550 to 77 250 E coordinates. The place is unique and renowned for its wide variety of large animals. The reserve has a total core area of 300 km2, buffer zone of 377 km2 and 50 km2 tourism zones. Thanikuddy forms part of the core area of the reserve and represents a primary, undisturbed tropical moist evergreen forest [7]. The specimen was collected by hand-picking method. Taxonomic analyses were carried using Nikon SMZ 1500 stereo zoom microscope. For digital images, MP evolution digital camera was used on same microscope with Auto-Montage (Syncroscopy, Division of Synoptics, Ltd.) software. Later, images were cleaned as per requirement with Adobe Photoshop CS6. The measurements of various sclerites are as defined in Bharti and Akbar [3]. Original description, images and the collection area are all in conformity with our specimen and easily enable us to identity our species.
Myrmoteras scabrum Moffett, 1985 (Figs. 1, 2, 3) & Shahid Ali Akbar [email protected] 1
Entomology Division, Central Institute of Temperate Horticultu
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