Strumigenys membranifera Emery, 1869

Tang, Kit Lam, Pierce, Mac P. & Guenard, Benoit, 2019, Review of the genus Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in Hong Kong with the description of three new species and the addition of five native and four introduced species records, ZooKeys 831, pp. 1-48 : 25-26

Strumigenys membranifera Emery, 1869 - new record Fig. 5 D–F

Strumigenys (Trichoscapa) membranifera Emery 1869: 24, fig. 11 (w.) ITALY. Palearctic.

Strumigenys (Cephaloxys) membranifera (Emery, 1869). Combination in Strumigenys (Cephaloxys) : Emery 1916: 205.

Trichoscapa membranifera (Emery, 1869). Combination in Trichoscapa : Brown 1948: 113.

Pyramica membranifera (Emery, 1869). Combination in Pyramica : Bolton 1999: 1673.

Strumigenys membranifera (Emery, 1869). Combination in Strumigenys : Baroni Urbani and De Andrade 2007: 123.

Senior synonym of S. foochowensis , S. membranifera marioni, S. membranifera santschii, S. silvestriana , S. membranifera simillima, S. vitiensis , S. membranifera williamsi: Brown 1948: 114.

Material examined.

HONG KONG: Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.2947N, 113.9336E, 21 m, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 4 Corners, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.2953N, 113.9354E, 28 m, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 12 Random, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.2953N, 113.9354E, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 12 Random, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.2957N, 113.9338E, 15 m, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 12 Random, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.2957N, 113.9338E, 15 m, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 4 Corners, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.2957N, 113.9338E, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 12 Random, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.3139N, 113.9398E, 2 m, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 4 Corners, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.3139N, 113.9398E, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 12 Random, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.3153N, 113.9407E, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 12 Random, IBBL; Islands District, Chek Lap Kok, 22.3153N, 113.9407E, B.M. Worthington, Winkler, 4 Corners, IBBL; Islands District, Disneyland, 22.309433N, 114.04575E, 19.07.2016, B. Guénard, Gut content Water Dragon, IBBL; Tai Po District, Ping Shan Chai, 22.486N, 114.187E, 13.06.2015, C. Barthélémy, Malaise trap, IBBL; Tai Po District, To Kwa Peng, 22.42901N, 114.3336E, 25.05.2018, 1 m, R. Cheung / C. Taylor, Malaise trap, IBBL; Yuen Long District, Lok Ma Chau, 22.51031N, 114.06376E, 16.05.2018, 1 m, M. Wong, pitfall trap, IBBL; Yuen Long District, Lok Ma Chau, 22.51287N, 114.06463E, 17.07.2018, 1 m, M. Wong, pitfall trap, IBBL.

Measurements.

Workers (n = 5): TL 1.9-2.1, HL 0.45-0.47, HW 0.40-0.41, MandL 0.08-0.09, SL 0.20-0.23, EL 0.029-0.037, PW 0.22-0.24, ML 0.49-0.53, PL 0.22-0.26, PH 0.13-0.15, DPW 0.14-0.15, PPL 0.15-0.18, GL 0.47-0.53, CI 87-91, MI 17-20, SI 49-56, OI 7-9, LPI 55-58, DPI 54-61.

Geographic range.

Native: Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Africa

Introduced: a widespread species in multiple biogeographic realms. For a full global account, please refer to records presented under antmaps.org ( Janicki et al. 2016, Guénard et al. 2017). Here, the Asian distribution is presented for the Oriental (China: Guangdong, Hong Kong, Yunnan; India; Taiwan) and Sino-Japanese realms (Bhutan, China: Fujian, Sichuan; Japan: Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands, Shikoku; Nepal).

Ecology.

This is a species restricted to habitats with frequent disturbance, particularly within lowland areas (Hong Kong Airport, Disneyland, and Mai Po Nature Reserve) covered with grasslands or remnants of forests within urbanized matrices (Fig. 10). One alate female was collected in a Malaise trap between the June 13-27, suggesting potential swarming during this period in Hong Kong. Elevation ranged from 1 to 29 m, with the exception of an alate gyne collected at an elevation of 142 m. This species forms relatively large colonies of about 250 individuals (up to 350 individuals; Ito et al. 2010).

Comments.

The record of this tramp species in Hong Kong is not surprising considering its widespread range in the region and previous records in the nearby provinces of Guangdong and Fujian as well as from Macau for 90 years ( Wheeler 1928), while extending further west in China to Yunnan. Considering the widespread range of this species in tropical and subtropical regions, it appears likely that this species is already present in two other provinces of China: Guangxi and Hainan. Future sampling efforts, in particular within urban habitats, could support this hypothesis.