Ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the collection of Volodymyr Opanasovych Karawajew. Communication 1. Dorylinae, Poneromorpha and Pseudomyrmecinae.

The collection of Volodymyr Opanasovych Karawajew, stored at the Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (SIZK, Kiev), is one of the richest ant collections of the world. It contains more than 20,000 dry mounted specimens, collected mostly in Southeast Asia and the Palaearctic, as well as in the Afrotropics, Australia, and North and South America. Among them, we found type specimens of 509 taxa, described by Karawajew and other myrmecologists. The compiled Catalogue includes data on types of 80 taxa belonging to the subfamilies Dorylinae, Amblyoponinae, Ectatomminae, Ponerinae, Proceratiinae and Pseudomyrmecinae.

Corrieoponenouragues gen. nov., sp. nov., a new Ponerinae from French Guiana (Hymenoptera, Formicidae).

This study describes the worker and queen castes of the Neotropical ponerine Corrieoponenouragues gen. nov., sp. nov., an ant from the tropical rainforest in French Guiana. Worker morphology of the taxon is compared with those of other Ponerinae and the similarities between them are discussed, refining the definition of character states for some diagnostic characters at the generic level, providing an identification key to the Neotropical genera, and making some adjustments to the taxonomic framework within the subfamily. Descriptions, diagnosis, character discussion, identification key, and glossary are illustrated with more than 300 images and line drawings. Open science is supported by providing access to measurement data for specimens of the new genus, a matrix of character states for all ponerine taxa evaluated in this study, and specimen data for all examined material. The new or revived combinations presented here are Pachycondylaprocidua Emery, comb. rev., Neoponeracuriosa (Mackay and Mackay), comb. nov., Leptogenysbutteli (Forel), comb. nov., and Bothroponeraescherichi (Forel), comb. nov. In addition, Leptogenysbutteli is synonymized with Leptogenysmyops (Emery), syn. nov.

The basitarsal sulcus gland, a novel exocrine structure in ants.

The basitarsus of the mid- and/or hindlegs of several Amblyoponinae ants shows a deep longitudinal groove or sulcus on its anterior face in workers and queens. Histological examination reveals this sulcus is associated with a conspicuous novel epithelial gland, which brings the number of exocrine glands in the legs of ants to 25. The ultrastructural characteristics of the gland show the presence of a well-developed smooth endoplasmic reticulum. This is indicative for the elaboration of a non-proteinaceous and thus possibly pheromonal secretion. Behavioural observations show that this secretion is collected by the tarsomeres and spread onto the brood and nest, suggesting a role in nestmate recognition. A similar basitarsal sulcus gland was also found in Nothomyrmecia, Paraponera and Tetraponera, which represents both a wide phylogenetic and ecological distribution, as it includes arboreal, ground-dwelling as well as subterranean taxa.

Novel exocrine glands in the foreleg coxae of Discothyrea ants.

Workers, queens and males of all examined Discothyrea species of the 'sauteri group', that have laterally expanded frontal lobes and well-developed antennal scrobes, are characterized by two hairy areas on the outer surface of their procoxae. Histological and ultrastructural examination of Discothyrea sauterirevealed that each of these areas is associated with a novel exocrine gland: the proximal procoxal gland is formed by a cluster of 15 round secretory cells of 34 µm with numerous mitochondria, smooth endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus.Their ducts have a diameter of 0.5-1 µm.The distal procoxal gland contains 50 secretory cells of 22 µm with numerous vacuoles and lamellar inclusions, and narrow ducts with a diameter of only 0.15-0.2 µm.The differences in ultrastructural appearance and duct diameter indicate that both glands produce a different but probably pheromonal secretion. The function of these novel procoxal glands could not yet be determined, although observation of D.sauteri workers and queens shows that they make frequent and peculiar leg movements, in which the foreleg basitarsus rubs over the coxal hairy areas. The foreleg basitarsus then rubs the ipsilateral hindleg basitarsus and antenna. As a last step of the sequence, the hindleg basitarsus strokes the gaster.In addition to the occurrence of these novel procoxal glands, histological examination of D. sauteri also revealed the presence of yet another novel but smaller procoxal base gland. Ants of the 'testacea group', that have less developed frontal lobes and no antennal scrobes, do not have procoxal hairy areas, although a distinct sculpturation with small pores may occur in the corresponding areas. The related Proceratium japonicum, that has a similar lifestyle as Discothyrea, does not have any of the procoxal glands and does not display the peculiar leg movements as reported for D. sauteri.

A new species of Stigmatomma from Taiwan (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Amblyoponinae).

Stigmatomma is the most speciose ant genus in the subfamily Amblyoponinae. In the present paper, the worker caste of a new species is described, S. luyiaesp. n., which was collected from a soil sample in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Taiwan. An identification key to the females of Stigmatomma species with 11 antennomeres occurring in Asia is also provided.

Taxonomic revision of Stigmatomma Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Malagasy region.

In this study we present the first taxonomic revision of the ant genus Stigmatomma in the Malagasy biogeographic region, re-describe the previously known S. besucheti Baroni-Urbani, and describe seven new species to science (S. bolabola sp. n., S. irayhady sp. n., S. janovitsika sp. n., S. liebe sp. n., S. roahady sp. n., S. sakalava sp. n., and S. tsyhady sp. n.). The revision is based on the worker caste, but we provide brief descriptions of gynes and males for some species. Species descriptions, diagnosis, character discussion, identification key, and glossary are illustrated with 360 high-quality montage and SEM images. The distribution of Stigmatomma species in Madagascar are mapped and discussed within the context of the island's biomes and ecoregions. We also discuss how some morphometric variables describe the differences among the species in the bioregion. Open science is supported by providing access to R scripts, raw measurement data, and all specimen data used. All specimens used in this study were given unique identifies, and holotypes were imaged. Specimens and images are made accessible on AntWeb.org.