first_record_protanilla_gengma_indian_subcontinent

Punnath  Aswaj1, Karunakaran Anoop1, Dharma Rajan  Priyadarsanan1

1 Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment,  Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru – 560064, Karnataka, India, 560064, Bengaluru, India

Corresponding author(s): Punnath  Aswaj (aswaj.punnath@atree.org)Karunakaran Anoop (idofanoop@gmail.com)Dharma Rajan  Priyadarsanan (priyan@atree.org)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Aswaj P, Anoop K, Priyadarsanan D R (2020): first record of Protanilla gengma Xu, 2012 from the Indian subcontinent. Check List. Dataset/Metadata. http://ipt.pensoft.net/resource?r=first_record_protanilla_gengma_indian_subcontinent&amp;v=1.0

Abstract

Protanilla gengma Xu, 2012 is recorded for the first time from the Indian subcontinent. This rarely collected ant species was previously known only from Yunnan Province, China. Two workers of P. gengma were collected from the Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Mizoram, Northeast India using a Winkler extraction method. It also shows the first record of the subfamily Leptanillinae from Northeast India and the third species of the genus Protanilla Taylor, 1990 from India. In addition, we present an updated distribution map for the genus and comments on morphological variation of the worker caste of P. gengma.

Keywords: Metadata

Project details

Project title: Bio-resources and Sustainable livelihood in North East India 
Personnel: Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan
Funding: Department of Biotechnology, India (BT/01/17/NE/TAX)
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The area chosen for the present study was the Northeast region of India, considered as the floral and faunal gateway for Asian mainland to the Indian Peninsula. It comprises of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim
Design description: Ants were collected using Winkler extraction methods and pitfall traps.

Data published through GBIF: http://ipt.pensoft.net/resource?r=first_record_protanilla_gengma_indian_subcontinent

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Leptanillinae.

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Mizoram, Champhai district, Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary; 23.86780 N, 93.25980 E
Coordinates: 90°0'0''S and 90°0'0''N Latitude; 180°0'0''W and 180°0'0''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: April 12, 2019

Natural collections description

Parent collection identifier: Not applicable
Collection name: Protanilla gengma Xu, 2012
Specimen preservation method: Mounted

Methods

Method step description: Specimens were examined under a Zeiss SteREO Discover.V8 microscope. Specimens were imaged at 200x magnification and images were taken using a Keyence VHX 6000 digital microscope. All the body measurements were taken using the Keyence VHX 6000 software. The species was identified with the aid of a taxonomic key and through subsequent comparisons of characters present in our specimens with original descriptions and type images of closely related species such as P. gengma and P. bicolor. The holotype images of P. gengma were obtained from Dr. Zhenghui Xu, Faculty of Conservation Biology, Southwest Forestry College, Yunnan Province, China, while the paratype images of P. bicolor were accessed on AntWeb.org (2020), CASENT0235341, photos by Michele Esposito, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA. The distribution of Protanilla species was assessed using AntMaps.org and a modified distribution map was prepared using QGIS 3.10.4. The specimens are deposited in the ant collection of ATREE Insect Museum, Bangalore, India (AIMB). 
Study extent description: We collected two specimens belonging to the genus Protanilla in the Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Champhai district of Mizoram, Northeast India (NE), at an elevation of 1615 m above sea level, on April of 2019
Sampling description: The specimens were collected with a Winkler extractor from sifted leaf litter taken from one square meter, which accounted for 750 ml of leaf litter.
Quality control description: The species was identified with the aid of a taxonomic key and through subsequent comparisons of characters present in our specimens with original descriptions and type images of closely related species such as P. gengma and P. bicolor

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive first_record_protanilla_gengma_indian_subcontinent
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://ipt.pensoft.net/archive.do?r=first_record_protanilla_gengma_indian_subcontinent
Publication date of data: 2020-11-13
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2020-11-11
Hierarchy level: Dataset