Leptogenys laeviceps (Smith, 1857)

Subedi, I. P., Budha, P. B. & Yamane, Sk., 2022, Ants of the genus Leptogenys Roger, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Ponerinae) from Nepal, Far Eastern Entomologist 448, pp. 11-20 : 14

Leptogenys laeviceps (Smith, 1857) , stat. resurr.

Figs 3, 4

Ponera laeviceps Smith, 1857: 69 (worker). Type locality: Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia.

Leptogenys diminuta laeviceps: Bolton, 1995: 232 .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Nepal: Bagmati province: Shivapuri-Nagarjun National

Park, Jamacho, 27.74555 o N, 85.26722 o E, h= 2087 m, bait and hand collection, 3.V 2019,

3♀, leg. I.P. Subedi, A. Pandey & K. Chaudhary; Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park,

Sundarijal forest , 27.79083 o N, 85.42083 o E, h= 1850 m, hand collection, 10.X 2020, 3♀, leg .

I.P. Subedi; Kathmandu, Ranibari community forest, 27.73082 o N, 85.32101 o E, h= 1300 m,

hand collection, 15.X 2019, 5♀, leg. I.P. Subedi; same locality, 27.729444 o N, 85.3205555 o

E, h= 1310 m, hand collection, 14.IV 2021, 12 ♀, leg. I.P. Subedi & I. Pandit; Tribhuvan

University Campus, Kirtipur, 27.68011 o N, 85.28866 o E, h= 1300 m, pitfall and hand collection, 11. V 2019, 7♀, leg. I.P. Subedi & S. Adhikari; Gandaki province: Kaski, Hemja,

28.28318 o N, 83.93301 o E, hand collection, 26.X 2007, 1♀, leg. I.P. Subedi; Kaski, Pokhara,

28.213611 o N, 83.97222 o E, h= 840 m, hand collection, 18.VI 2006, 4♀, leg. I.P. Subedi;

same locality, hand collection, 20.X 2021, 7♀, leg. N. Subedi; Tanahun, Jamune, 27.9875 o

N, 84.18305 o E, h= 530 m, hand collection, 24.X 2021, 5♀, leg. R. Pandit ; Lumbini province :

Rupandehi, Butwal, hand collection, 9.III 2013, 10♀, leg. I.P. Subedi.

WORKER DIAGNOSIS. The workers of this species can be distinguished by the presence of fewer striae on the gena and frons, and smooth and shiny vertex without any striation in contrast to the entirely striated head dorsum of L. diminuta . Pronotum is nearly smooth in this species unlike striated pronotum in L. diminuta . Further it is smaller in body size than typical diminuta specimens. Our identification is based on worker description for Ponera laeviceps in Smith (1857) and key in Bharti & Wachkoo (2013; treated as subspecies of L.

diminuta).

MEASUREMENTS AND INDICES (n=5). HL 1.33–1.61, HW 1.06–1.17, EL 0.26–0.29,

SL 1.39–1.67, PrW 0.79–0.83, PeL 0.56–0.61, PeH 0.58–0.64, WL 2.06–2.33, CI 72.41–

79.17, SI 129.27–142.85.

DISTRIBUTION. Nepal (new record), India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia,

New Guinea (Smith, 1857; Guenard et al., 2017).

REMARKS. Leptogenys laeviceps was described by Smith (1857) as Ponera laeviceps from Sarawak, Borneo, East Malaysia. It was kept in Lobopelta by Mayr (1862) and in

Leptogenys by Emery (1895). Mayr (1863) treated it as junior synonym of Leptogenys diminuta while Smith (1858) provided species status. Emery (1887) and subsequent authors treated it as a subspecies of L. diminuta . According to the current concept of subspecies

(geographical race), the treatment of laeviceps as subspecies is not justified because the distribution ranges of the two forms extensively overlap. This form is clearly separable from the sympatric L. diminuta as mentioned above, and should be raised to species rank.

Figures

Figs 1–4. Workers of Leptogenys spp. 1, 2 – L. diminuta: 1 – head in full-face view; 2 –