ABSTRACT
Alien species may pose substantial impacts on biodiversity around the globe through international trade and travel. A niche shift hypothesis was proposed to explain the adaptive change of alien or invasive species in new habitats. However, whether niche shifts occur in alien species likely depends on both characteristics inherent to the species itself and its original distribution. Here we identified a newly exotic trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus troglodytes) in Taiwan by morphological and phylogenetic analyses. The possible distribution range and the niche shift pattern were evaluated using ecological niche modelling. The results indicated that exotic O. troglodytes in the newly distributed area displayed a significant niche shift with low niche overlap and high niche expansion. This study reveals a long-distance invasive event from central Africa to Southeast Asia (more than 10,000 km) and predicts the potential distribution range of this new alien species in Taiwan.
Subject(s)
Ants , Introduced Species , Animals , Phylogeny , Taiwan , Commerce , InternationalityABSTRACT
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.
ABSTRACT
A new species of Protanilla Taylor, 1990, P. jongi sp. nov., from Taiwan is described and illustrated, along with a supplementary description of the queen morphology of P. lini Terayama, 2009 and biological notes of Protanilla species. Furthermore, Furcotanilla Xu, 2012 is considered a junior synonym of Protanilla on reanalysis of purported diagnostic characters. A key to the world fauna of genus Protanilla based on the worker caste is provided.
