Vollenhovia yasmeenae Akbar & Bharti & Schifani & Wachkoo 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Akbar, Shahid Ali
name: Bharti, Himender
name: Schifani, Enrico
name: Wachkoo, Aijaz Ahmad
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Vollenhovia
Vollenhovia yasmeenae

description: Vollenhovia yasmeenae sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: B34A100E-9543-45E4-BFAF-86D662F0BE33
Fig. 12
Diagnosis
Among the species of the region, V. yasmeenae sp. nov. can be separated based on some unique qualitative morphological features. It can be immediately distinguished from V. escherichi by its dark brown to blackish pigmentation as opposed to pale yellow, and from V. oblonga laevithorax by its sculptured as opposed to smooth mesosoma, and from V. pfeifferi by the absence of dentiform propodeal spines. Unlike V. keralensis and V. karimalaensis, its anterior clypeal margin is emarginate and has no median tooth, while the presence of a smooth area on the dorsum of the mesosoma separates it from V. gastropunctata, V. mawrapensis, and V. taylori. Finally, it differs from V. terayamai in having a much reduced smooth median area on the head and lacking the fine punctate sculpture on the sides of the petiole that characterizes the latter. The dorsal promesonotal sculpture appears relatively well-distinct and with a clear longitudinal orientation.
Etymology
The specific epithet is a Latinized noun in genitive, derived from the first name of Jammu and Kashmir’s first female Director of Colleges, Dr Yasmeen Ashai, for her service to higher education in the region.
Type material
Holotype INDIA • worker; Kerala, Silent Valley National Park; 11°09′ N, 76°44′ E; alt. 900 m; 25 Sep. 2011; Winkler extraction method; S.A. Akbar leg.; PUAC0038.
Paratypes INDIA • 3 workers; same collection data as for holotype: PUAC0039 to PUAC0041 • 3 workers; Kerala, Silent Valley National Park, near Badriya Juma Masjid, Mukkali; 11°06′ N, 76°53′ E; alt. 700 m; 20 Dec. 2013; Winkler extraction method; S.A. Akbar leg.; PUAC0042 to PUAC0044.
Worker measurements & indices (7 specimens, 2 colonies, 2 localities)
CL 0.61–0.65 (0.63), CW 0.54–0.57 (0.55), CS 0.57–0.6 (0.59), EL 0.14–0.16 (0.15), ML 0.80–0.82 (0.81), PEH 0.34–0.36 (0.35), PEL 0.16–0.19 (0.18), PEW 0.19–0.20 (0.19), PPH 0.20–0.23 (0.22), PPL 0.17–0.19 (0.18), PPW 0.23–0.24 (0.24), PW 0.38–0.41 (0.39), SL 0.38–0.39 (0.38). Indices: CL/ CW 1.09–1.21 (1.14), EL/ CS 0.23–0.27 (0.25), ML / CS 1.34–1.39 (1.37), PEH/ CS 0.57–0.61 (0.59), PEL/ CS 0.28–0.32 (0.30), PEW / CS 0.32–0.35 (0.33), PPH/ CS 0.35–0.39 (0.37), PPL/ CS 0.28–0.32 (0.30), PPW/ CS 0.39–0.42 (0.40), PW / CS 0.64–0.71 (0.67), SL/ CS 0.63–066 (0.65).
Description
Head in full-face view, subrectangular or subquadrate (CL/CW 1.09–1.21), posterior margin with a median concavity; posterolateral corner of head roundly convex, lateral margin broadly convex; clypeus emarginate; anterior clypeal margin laminate; mandible broad, masticatory margin consisting of 5–6 well-defined teeth, apical tooth strongly falcate; antenna 12-segmented; antennal scape short reaches about two-thirds the head length (SL/CS 0.63–0.66); eye prominent, protruding, placed well below midline of head (EL/CS 0.23–0.27).
In lateral view, dorsal outline of mesosoma flat; mesopleuron demarcated from lateral face of pronotum and propodeum by distinct sutures; posterior face of propodeum rounded and smooth; viewed dorsally, pronotal humeri rounded and smooth, and wider than the rest of the mesosoma; posterior propodeal margin convex; promesonotal suture absent; metanotal groove visible as a slight disruption in the surface sculpture, mesonotum and propodeum completely fused and lateral margins converging evenly to the propodeal declivity, no propodeal spines.
Petiole in lateral view, subquadrate with longer anterior face and shorter posterior face, dorsum concave; subpetiolar process well developed, subquadrate in shape (almost as long and as high, 0.09 mm); postpetiole dorsally rounded, much wider than long; sub-postpetiolar process pointed, peg-like, leaning anteriorly; gaster elliptical.
Surface sculpture throughout the body punctate-reticulate; punctures on head coarse; middle area of the head with a small smooth and unsculptured band in the middle of the head with few longitudinal striations running posteriorly, almost reaching the posterior margin; mandible smooth and shiny, with a few punctures present along masticatory margin; clypeus colliculate; mesosoma punctate-reticulate with longitudinally striations on dorsum; propodeal declivity colliculate; petiole and postpetiole sides minutely colliculate, dorsum mostly smooth with few punctures; gaster mostly smooth and shiny with fine punctures on first segment.
Whole body covered with abundant long, sub-erect, whitish pilosity.
Body black, appendages ferruginous to dark brownish.
Distribution
India (Kerala).
Ecology
Specimens were collected from the Silent Valley National Park (Fig. 12D), a primary tropical rainforest in Kerala, using the Winkler extraction method. Leaf litter samples of approximately 2 cm thickness were taken near tree trunks at two different locations in the National Park, one in the buffer zone (Mukkali) and one in the core region (Sairandhri). The species appears to be locally rare and may have a restricted distribution, although further research extending to other areas is required.
Remarks
Vollenhovia yasmeenae sp. nov. is the fourth species of the genus to be described from the Western Ghats region, further stressing its importance as a biodiversity hotspot for ants.
Worker-based key to the species of Vollenhovia Mayr, 1865 from India and Sri Lanka
1. Light colored, yellowish-brown with coarse alveolate head sculpture (Fig. 13A–B); small species (CW <0.4 mm), only known from Sri Lanka (Fig. 13A) ........................... V. escherichi Forel, 1911
– Dark brown to black (Fig. 13C–D), India ......................................................................................... 2
2. Anterior clypeal margin convex, forming a single median tooth (Fig. 13E) .................................... 3
– Anterior clypeal margin emarginate with no median tooth (Fig. 13F) ............................................. 4
3. Body generally foveolate; mandible with 8 teeth; subpetiolar process lamellar wall distinctly longer than high (Fig. 13G–I) ................................................. V. keralensis Kripakaran & Sadasivan, 2022
– Body generally punctate; mandible with 7 teeth; subpetiolar process elongate and sickle-shaped (Fig. 13H–J) ........................................................................... V. karimalaensis Dhadwal et al., 2023
4. Mesosoma smooth and shiny, with few delicate, scattered punctures anteriorly, very evident metanotal depression (Fig. 13K) .......................... V. oblonga laevithorax Emery, 1889 or a member of the V. penetrans complex sensu Wang et al. (2022)
– Mesosoma strongly sculptured throughout (Fig. 13L) ..................................................................... 5
5. Propodeal spines dentiform; declivity carinate (Fig. 13M) ................. V. pfeifferi Bharti et al., 2023
– No propodeal spines; declivity smoothly rounded (Fig. 13N) ......................................................... 6
6. Mesosoma dorsum with a smooth and shiny central area (Fig. 14A) .............................................. 7
– Mesosoma dorsum dorsally entirely sculptured, with no central smooth region (Fig. 14B) ............ 8
7. Head with a broad smooth median band (Fig. 14C), postpetiole narrower and dorsally smooth, Eastern India (Fig. 14E) ...................................................................... V. terayamai Rilta et al., 2023
– Entirely sculptured (Fig. 14D), postpetiole wider and dorsally sculptured, Western Ghats (Fig. 14F) ......................................................................................................... V. yasmeenae sp. nov.
8. Body size small (CL: 0.44–0.50; CW: 0.40–0.44; ML: 0.54–0.60) ................................................. 9
– Body size larger (CL: 0.56; CW: 0.49; ML: 0.73–0.75) ..................................................................... ............................................................................................ V. gastropunctata Bharti & Kumar, 2013
9. Mandible with 7 teeth, mesosoma dorsum more finely and densely sculptured, mesopleuron transversely striate (Fig. 14G–H) ........................................... V. mawrapensis Dhadwal et al., 2023
– Mandible with 6 teeth, head, and mesosoma characterized by a coarse punctate sculpture, mesopleuron coarsely punctate (Fig. 14I –J) ................................................................... V. taylori Rilta et al., 2023
description: Published as part of Akbar, Shahid Ali, Bharti, Himender, Schifani, Enrico & Wachkoo, Aijaz Ahmad, 2023, Overview of the ant genus Vollenhovia (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in India and Sri Lanka, with an illustrated key and the description of a new species, pp. 77-107 in European Journal of Taxonomy 908 on pages 96-99, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.908.2339, http://zenodo.org/record/10158922