first_record_protanilla_gengma_indian_subcontinent

Study Extent

We collected two specimens belonging to the genus Protanilla in the Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Champhai district of Mizoram, Northeast India (NE), at an elevation of 1615 m above sea level, on April of 2019

Sampling

The specimens were collected with a Winkler extractor from sifted leaf litter taken from one square meter, which accounted for 750 ml of leaf litter.

Quality Control

The species was identified with the aid of a taxonomic key and through subsequent comparisons of characters present in our specimens with original descriptions and type images of closely related species such as P. gengma and P. bicolor

Method steps

1. Specimens were examined under a Zeiss SteREO Discover.V8 microscope. Specimens were imaged at 200x magnification and images were taken using a Keyence VHX 6000 digital microscope. All the body measurements were taken using the Keyence VHX 6000 software. The species was identified with the aid of a taxonomic key and through subsequent comparisons of characters present in our specimens with original descriptions and type images of closely related species such as P. gengma and P. bicolor. The holotype images of P. gengma were obtained from Dr. Zhenghui Xu, Faculty of Conservation Biology, Southwest Forestry College, Yunnan Province, China, while the paratype images of P. bicolor were accessed on AntWeb.org (2020), CASENT0235341, photos by Michele Esposito, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA. The distribution of Protanilla species was assessed using AntMaps.org and a modified distribution map was prepared using QGIS 3.10.4. The specimens are deposited in the ant collection of ATREE Insect Museum, Bangalore, India (AIMB).

Mizoram, Champhai district, Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary; 23.86780 N, 93.25980 E