Cerapachys schoedli, Bharti, Himender & Akbar, Shahid Ali, 2013

Bharti, Himender & Akbar, Shahid Ali, 2013, Taxonomic studies on the ant genus Cerapachys Smith (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from India, ZooKeys 336, pp. 79-103 : 92-94

Cerapachys schoedli sp. n. Figures 1, 3A, 6A, 8A, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, Table 1

Type material.

Holotype worker: India. Kerala, Silent valley national park, 11°5'N, 76°26'E, 897m a.s.l., 25.ix.2011, Winkler. Paratypes: 13 workers and 3 ergatoid queens, same data as holotype; 2 workers, India, Kerala, Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, 10°45'N, 76°44'E, 118m a.s.l., 6.xi.2011, Winkler; 10 workers, India, Kerala, Periyar tiger reserve, Manalar, 9°35'N, 77°18'E, 1630m a.s.l., 27.x.2011, hand picking (coll. Shahid A. Akbar). Holotype in PUAC and paratype in BMNH.

Worker description.

Measurements (holotype in brackets): HL 0.64-0.68 (0.68); HW 0.44-0.46 (0.46); EL 0.07-0.11 (0.11); WL 0.62-0.69 (0.69); MH 0.41-0.48 (0.48); PrW 0.31-0.35 (0.35); PL1 0.24-0.27 (0.27); PW1 0.28-0.31 (0.31); IIIAL 0.28-0.32 (0.32); IIIAW 0.39-0.41 (0.41); SL 0.31-0.33 (0.33); IVAL 0.70-0.74 (0.74); IVAW 0.58-0.60 (0.60). Indices: CI 67-69 (67); SI 70-72 (72); PI 114-116 (114) (n=11).

Head, rectangular, longer than broad; sides parallel; vertexal border transverse. Posterior lateral corners acute. Parafrontal ridges present, raised. Eyes medium sized, almost circular. Mandibles subtriangular; masticatory margins without a row of small denticles. Lateroclypeal teeth small. Antennae 12 segmented; scapes short, each falling short of posterior margin of head by 1/3rd of its length.

Mesosoma. stout, humped in profile view; dorsal surface convex, continuous with sides, no lateral margins. Declivous face of propodeum with cariniform margins across the top and along the lateral margins.

Metasoma. Petiole broader than long, and gently rounded towards the sides. Anterior and posterior faces transverse. Subpetiolar process stout, fenestra present. Postpetiole almost rectangular, wider behind, with the posterolateral angles not tuberculate but uniformly rounded. Gaster elongate; base of cinctus of first gastral tergite with cross ribs; sting exerted.

Sculpture. Mandibles with small punctures. Head smooth and shining with some punctures. Mesosoma mostly smooth and shining with some punctures along the sides. Petiole, postpetiole and gaster with continuous punctures.

Vestiture. Body covered with moderate, decumbent or subdecumbent hairs, most prominent on gaster; apical funicular segments and legs also with standing hairs.

Colour. Bright yellowish orange to dark red.

Ergatoid queen measurements.

HL 0.80-0.84; HW 0.59-0.63; EL 0.14-0.16; WL 0.88-0.92; MH 0.51-0.55; PrW 0.49-0.53; SL 0.41-0.43; PL1 0.29-0.31; PW1 0.38-0.41; IIIAL 0.44-0.50; IIIAW 0.57-0.59; IVAL 0.88-0.90; IVAW 0.86-0.88. Indices: CI 73-75; SI 68-69; PI 131-132 (n=3).

Like the workers of the same colony, but larger, with more stout body, especially the mesosoma and gaster. Ocelli absent on vertex. Distinction between ergatoid queens and worker is vague, with size variation of workers very high.

Etymology.

The species is named in the honor of the late Dr. Stefan Schödl.

Differential diagnosis.

This species is aberrant in many characters, with the cephalic dorsum bearing small punctures with average diameter lesser than the average distance separating them, a highly shinning body and reduced body sculpture, which separates it from other reported Indian species. Cerapachys schoedli sharesmost characters with Cerapachys seema , from which it can be easily distinguished by the combination of characters given in the diagnosis of the latter species. The new species can also be compared with Cerapachys luteoviger Brown, 1975 which also has small punctures on the cephalic dorsum, with diameter lesser than the average distance separating them. However, the peculiar petiolar node (with anterodorsal border concavely emarginate) and rounded head shape of Cerapachys luteoviger easily separates it from Cerapachys schoedli , which has the petiolar node broader than long and the posterior lateral corners of the head acute.

Ecology.

This species seems to be common in the Western Ghats; it was collected in non-forest as well as forest habitats in leaf litter and on dry soil surfaces.