Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Wong, Mark K. L
• McRae, Jane M

Titel

Leptanilla voldemort sp. nov., a gracile new species of the hypogaeic ant genus Leptanilla from the Pilbara, with a key to Australian Leptanilla

Ist Teil von

• ZooKeys, 2024-04, Vol.1197 (3), p.171-182

Ort / Verlag

Sofia: Pensoft Publishers

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The genus Leptanilla Emery, 1870 of the family Formicidae, subfamily Leptanillinae, comprises miniscule, pale, blind ants that are rarely collected and poorly understood due to their hypogaeic (i.e. underground) lifestyles. Here we describe a new Leptanilla species from two workers collected via subterranean scraping in the arid Pilbara region of Western Australia. Leptanilla voldemort sp. nov. is the second leptanilline species documented in Australia after the elusive Leptanilla swani Wheeler, 1932. Workers of L. voldemort sp. nov. display a remarkably gracile morphology characterised by elongated legs, antennae, and mandibles, and they are easily differentiated from other Leptanilla species. We also provide new measurements for L. swani from two workers found proximally to the type locality of L. voldemort sp. nov. A key to the worker caste of Leptanilla species of the Australian continent is presented.