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A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area

In the past few decades, sampling of leaf litter with Winkler extractors revealed how abundant and ubiquitous ants from the genus Strumigenys are. It is now known that this genus has the third greatest number of species within the Formicidae family. However, very few subterranean species are known,...

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Autores principales: Brassard, François, Leong, Chi-Man, Chan, Hoi-Hou, Guénard, Benoit
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pensoft Publishers 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7578445/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33132706
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.970.54958
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author Brassard, François
Leong, Chi-Man
Chan, Hoi-Hou
Guénard, Benoit
author_facet Brassard, François
Leong, Chi-Man
Chan, Hoi-Hou
Guénard, Benoit
author_sort Brassard, François
collection PubMed
description In the past few decades, sampling of leaf litter with Winkler extractors revealed how abundant and ubiquitous ants from the genus Strumigenys are. It is now known that this genus has the third greatest number of species within the Formicidae family. However, very few subterranean species are known, which may be due to the current under-sampling of the soil stratum. Here, a holistic sampling approach, including the use of subterranean traps, was employed in Macao SAR, China. Subterranean traps allowed the collection of a new cryptic ant species: Strumigenys subterranea Brassard, Leong & Guénard, sp. nov. Moreover, extensive sampling of the leaf litter in secondary forests provided four new species records for the genus. The list of Macanese Strumigenys is here updated, elevating the known diversity in Macao to nine species. Furthermore, to facilitate further research on ants of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a key to the 29 Strumigenys species known from the region is provided. Lastly, recommendations for sampling methods to assess ant biodiversity underground are discussed. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of using extensive sampling methods, and suggests that relatively small patches of secondary forests within cities can hold a surprisingly high diversity as well as some undescribed species.
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spelling pubmed-75784452020-10-29 A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area Brassard, François Leong, Chi-Man Chan, Hoi-Hou Guénard, Benoit Zookeys Research Article In the past few decades, sampling of leaf litter with Winkler extractors revealed how abundant and ubiquitous ants from the genus Strumigenys are. It is now known that this genus has the third greatest number of species within the Formicidae family. However, very few subterranean species are known, which may be due to the current under-sampling of the soil stratum. Here, a holistic sampling approach, including the use of subterranean traps, was employed in Macao SAR, China. Subterranean traps allowed the collection of a new cryptic ant species: Strumigenys subterranea Brassard, Leong & Guénard, sp. nov. Moreover, extensive sampling of the leaf litter in secondary forests provided four new species records for the genus. The list of Macanese Strumigenys is here updated, elevating the known diversity in Macao to nine species. Furthermore, to facilitate further research on ants of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a key to the 29 Strumigenys species known from the region is provided. Lastly, recommendations for sampling methods to assess ant biodiversity underground are discussed. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of using extensive sampling methods, and suggests that relatively small patches of secondary forests within cities can hold a surprisingly high diversity as well as some undescribed species. Pensoft Publishers 2020-09-21 /pmc/articles/PMC7578445/ /pubmed/33132706 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.970.54958 Text en François Brassard, Chi-Man Leong, Hoi-Hou Chan, Benoit Guénard http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Brassard, François
Leong, Chi-Man
Chan, Hoi-Hou
Guénard, Benoit
A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area
title A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area
title_full A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area
title_fullStr A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area
title_full_unstemmed A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area
title_short A new subterranean species and an updated checklist of Strumigenys (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Macao SAR, China, with a key to species of the Greater Bay Area
title_sort new subterranean species and an updated checklist of strumigenys (hymenoptera, formicidae) from macao sar, china, with a key to species of the greater bay area
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7578445/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33132706
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.970.54958
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