Published December 20, 2022 | Version v1
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Description of Prenolepis rinpoche sp. nov. from Nepal, with discussion of Asian Prenolepis species biogeography

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Florida, USA, jleewill@gmail.com

Description

Prenolepis rinpoche sp. nov. is described, imaged, and compared with similar species from South and Southeast Asia. This new species description raises the total number of extant Prenolepis species to 20. Distribution maps of all Asian Prenolepis species are included. Further justification for this new species description is provided using principal component analysis (PCA) of linear morphometric data collected from 15 Prenolepis species. This species is most similar morphologically to P. darlena Williams & LaPolla 2016, P. fisheri Bharti & Wachkoo 2012, P. fustinoda Williams & LaPolla 2016, P. nepalensis Williams & LaPolla 2018, and P. shanialena Williams & LaPolla 2016. The geographical distributions of these six similar species are concentrated around montane areas of South and Southeast Asia, including The Himalayas in Nepal and northern India. Similar morphology suggests that these six species together form a high elevation clade. A re-evaluation of the literature and distribution records confirms there are presently four species known to Nepal, two of which are likely endemic: P. nepalensis and P. rinpoche. Most Prenolepis species, including P. rinpoche, are found at elevations above 1200 meters, suggesting an evolutionary pathway to temperate climate adaptation and winter activity in species such as P. imparis Say (1836) in the Nearctic and P. nitens Mayr (1853) in the Palearctic.

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Additional details

Identifiers

URL
https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/53736
LSID
urn:lsid:plazi.org:pub:FFCDFFC5FF8A4A323B01FFE1FFA76B78
URL
http://publication.plazi.org/id/FFCDFFC5FF8A4A323B01FFE1FFA76B78

Has part
Taxonomic treatment: 10.5281/zenodo.7463942 (DOI)
Taxonomic treatment: http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F487BDFF894A343BA9FA81FD6E6E25 (URL)
Dataset: http://table.plazi.org/id/DF226623FF884A303BCDFD14FB21685E (URL)
Figure: 10.5281/zenodo.7463944 (DOI)
Figure: 10.5281/zenodo.7463946 (DOI)
Figure: 10.5281/zenodo.7463948 (DOI)
Figure: 10.5281/zenodo.7463950 (DOI)
Is source of
Dataset: https://www.gbif.org/dataset/1cb59493-1236-4746-930d-9e2b81bab0b7 (URL)

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