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The Ants
of Egypt SUBFAMILY FORMICINAE - Genus Tapinolepis (Emery) |
Note this page replaces the Anoplolepis
page
Revised after Bolton (2003: 267) - separating Anoplolepis as previously understood into two separate genera Anoplolepis (in Tribe Lasiini; with Zealleyella as a junior synonym) and Tapinolepis (in Tribe Plagiolepidini; with Mesanoplolepis as a junior synonym).
Bolton's prime separation points are :-
Anoplolepis - mandible with 6-9 teeth, when closed not concealed
by clypeus; dorsum of head behind clypeus with erect stout setae; eye
behind mid-length of head, and anterior arc of torus around eyes
posterior to and not touching clypeal margin; ocelli absent (sometimes
one median ocellus in largest workers); metatibia with a large distinct
apicoventral spur, with a coarse seta on each side; anterior face of
gaster without distinct concavity.
Tapinolepis - mandible with 5 teeth, when closed mostly
concealed by clypeus; dorsum of head behind clypeus without erect stout
setae; eyes set variably around midlength of head but anterior arc of
torus around eyes touching and slightly indenting clypeal margin; three
ocelli distinct; metatibia with a divergent pair of large coarse setae
on each side, no median spur; anterior face of gaster with distinct
cavity, into which the petiole fits when alitrunk and gaster in
horizontal alignment.
The genus Anoplolepis was originally described as a subgenus of Plagiolepis by Santschi (1914b: 123), raised to genus by Emery (1925b: 16), it appears as a full genus in Bolton (1994, 1995), but was not separated in Bolton (1973a). Most were originally placed in Formica or Plagiolepis.
The original separation of Anoplolepis as a subgenus of Plagiolepis
(Santschi 1914b) appears to be a main ground of having the metanotum
indistinctly defined or obsolete (Arnold, 1922: 578-93). This feature
was shared by two subgenera -
Anoplolepis (Santschi, 1914b) with the meso-metanotal suture
obsolete, the metanotum-propodeum suture very feeble; dorsum of
propodeum not very convex, not higher or only slightly higher than the
mesonotum; head hardly narrower in front than behind; monomorphic,
although in some, if not all species, some workers are used as
honey-storage vessels and have the abdomen grossly distended.
Zealleyella Arnold (1922: 578-9) with the metanotum small, much
smaller than the mesonotum, from which it is feebly delimited;
propodeum convex and higher than the metanotum; large species often
polymorphic.
Emery (1925b) separated Tapinolepis - with one species from
South Africa and one from Ethiopia. Santschi (1926a) clarified and
restated his definitions of the Genus and the subgenera Anoplolepis,
Zealleyella, Mesanoplolepis and Tapinolepis.
These are at ; together with a note on
Mesanoplolepis he added later (1930b - as to the subgenus having
repletes but, unlike Zealleyella, not different morphs in terms
of head shape. All but one of the Mesanoplolepis species are
from eastern Africa, the odd one is from North Africa.
Egyptian species - Tapinolepis (Mesanoplolepis) mediterranea (Mayr)
©2005, 2006, 2010, 2015 - Brian Taylor CBiol FRSB FRES 11, Grazingfield, Wilford, Nottingham, NG11 7FN, U.K. |
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