ASIAN
MYRMECOLOGY
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online first (online version of paper published before print issue)
DOI: 10.20362/am.019001
Asian Myrmecology 19: 019001 (1-9)
article first published online: 30/January/2026
A new species of Polyrhachis Smith from Garbhanga Reserve Forest, Assam, India, with a key to the Indian species of Polyrhachis mucronata group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Ankita Sharma1,2,* , Paul Antony Mangaly1,3, Suraj Kumar Singha Deo1, Sangavi D1
and Anindya Sinha1,4
Abstract:
The study describes a new species of Polyrhachis, or spiny ant, named Polyrhachis
garbhangaensis sp. nov., from the state of Assam, northeastern India. This species was collected and
identified during field sampling in the Garbhanga Reserve Forest, near the city of Guwahati in Assam.
It represents a third Indian species of the P. mucronata species group in the subgenus Myrmhopla.
Polyrhachis Smith, 1857 is a genus of ants, found widely across the Old-World tropics, with significant
diversity across Southeast Asia. The discovery and characterisation of this species clearly indicate the
need to revise the classification key of the genus Polyrhachis. As a step towards this, we present an
updated key to the species of the mucronata group of Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla), including the new
species. This finding contributes to a deeper understanding of the taxonomic diversity of Polyrhachis
and highlights the unexpected importance of urban and fragmented forest areas in sustaining tropical
ant biodiversity
Keywords:
Myrmecology, taxonomy, identification key, spiny ant, northeastern India
Get PDF (1.6 MB) :
Ankita Sharma1,2,* , Paul Antony Mangaly1,3, Suraj Kumar Singha Deo1, Sangavi D1 and Anindya Sinha1,4
Abstract:
The study describes a new species of Polyrhachis, or spiny ant, named Polyrhachis garbhangaensis sp. nov., from the state of Assam, northeastern India. This species was collected and identified during field sampling in the Garbhanga Reserve Forest, near the city of Guwahati in Assam. It represents a third Indian species of the P. mucronata species group in the subgenus Myrmhopla. Polyrhachis Smith, 1857 is a genus of ants, found widely across the Old-World tropics, with significant diversity across Southeast Asia. The discovery and characterisation of this species clearly indicate the need to revise the classification key of the genus Polyrhachis. As a step towards this, we present an updated key to the species of the mucronata group of Polyrhachis (Myrmhopla), including the new species. This finding contributes to a deeper understanding of the taxonomic diversity of Polyrhachis and highlights the unexpected importance of urban and fragmented forest areas in sustaining tropical ant biodiversity
Keywords:
Myrmecology, taxonomy, identification key, spiny ant, northeastern India
Get PDF (1.6 MB) :
1Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India
2Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
3St. Joseph‘s University, Bangalore, India
4Coexistence Studies Group, Trans-Disciplinary University of Health Sciences and Technology, Bangalore, India
*Corresponding author: ankitasharma@nias.res.in
