Camponotus selene ( Emery, 1889 )

Subedi, I. P., Budha, P. B., Bharti, H., Alonso, L. & Yamane, S., 2021, First Record Of The Ant Subgenus Orthonotomyrmex Of The Genus Camponotus From Nepal (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), Zoodiversity 55 (4), pp. 279-284 : 282-283

Camponotus selene ( Emery, 1889) (fig. 5)

M a t e r i a l s e x a m i n e d. Nepal: Kathmandu,

Tribhuvan University Campus, Kirtipur [27.68250 N

85.284166 E], 1320 m, pitfall collection, 9- 11.05.2019,

2 ♀ workers (IP Subedi & S Adhikari) (CDZMTU);

Sundarijal forest, Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park

[27.77139N 85.42639E], 1600 m, hand collection,

10.10.2020, 2 ♀ workers ( IP Subedi) (CDZMTU) .

D i s t r i b u t i o n. Nepal (new record),

India, China, Myanmar.

T a x o n o m i c n o t e s. Our worker

specimens have an opaque black body

with few hairs, square-shaped head, short,

Fig. 5. Camponotus selene .

broad and dorsally margined alitrunk,

pronotum with acute margin, two plier-

shaped propodeal spines and large, broad, cylindrical gaster. Our material was identified as C. selene based on the key in Wang & Wu (1994). It is closely related to C. lasiselene in color, shape and sculpture but has sparsely distributed short hair.

Key to the Nepalese species of Camponotus (Orthonotomyrmex) (workers)

(The species wasmanni is included for comparison though it is not reported from Nepal.)

1. Propodeum with two plier-shaped spines, petiole very thick and is truncated posteriorly in profile view with concave dorsal face.....................................................................................................................................2

— Propodeum without plier-shaped spines, petiole nodiform and is knob-like in profile with uniform anteroposterior width and rounded dorsal face. ............................................................................................ 3

2. Pilosity sparse. ......................................................................................................................................... C. selene

— Pilosity abundant............................................................................................................................... C. lasiselene

3. Pronotum dentate; body very densely pilose; hind tibia without spiny bristles on ventral margin......... 4

— Pronotum edentate; body sparsely pilose; hind tibia with spiny bristles on ventral margin.....................5

4. Mesosoma and petiole reddish; distinct red blotch present on either side of the first gastral segment. ............................................................................................................................................ C. mutilarius

— Entirely black in colour. ................................................................................................................ C. wasmanni

5. Gastral pubescence thick, apressed, golden mossy. ....................................................................... C. sericeus

— Gastral pubescence short, sparse and much lighter in colour. .............................................. C. opaciventris

Conclusions

The ant subgenus Orthonotomyrmex along with its five species, namely Camponotus mutilarius , C. opaciventris , C. sericeus , C. lasiselene and C. selene are recorded for the first time from Nepal. With the addition of these five species, the number of Camponotus species known from Nepal raises to 13. However, many more species are expected to be recorded with the accomplishment of future field surveys in the country.

Authors acknowledge the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (835/075-76eco75, 713/076-77eco65) and Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park office (311/075-76, 247/2076-77) for providing ant collection permission inside the national park. We are thankful to A. Subedi, I Pandit, T Sherpa, RP Pokhrel, K Chaudhary, S Subedi, P Shrestha, and B Shrestha for assisting in collection of ants during our surveys in different sites.