Tapinoma indicum Forel, 1895

Hamer, Matthew T., Lee, Jonathan Hon Chung, Tse, Cheung Yau Leo, Silva, Thiago S. R. & Guénard, Benoit, 2022, Remarkable diversity in a little red dot: a comprehensive checklist of known ant species in Singapore (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with notes on ecology and taxonomy, Asian Myrmecology (e 015006) 15, pp. 1-152 : 27

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.20362/am.015006
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B68783-314F-FFBF-FF67-7E63FC78FD17
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Tapinoma indicum Forel, 1895
status

Treatment

Tapinoma indicum Forel, 1895 View in CoL

Material examined. Alates , University Town ( NUS), 1.306222°N, 103.774583°E, 20- 27 May 2015, M.S. Foo and W. Wang leg., malaise trap, ZRC _ BDP0045129 View Materials GoogleMaps ; same locality and collectors as previous, 1-8 Jul 2015, malaise trap, ZRC _ BDP0045948 View Materials GoogleMaps ; Prince George’s Park Residences ( NUS), 1.292389°N, 103.778694°E, 17-24 Jun 2015, M.S. Foo and W. Wang leg., malaise trap, ZRC _ BDP0044384 View Materials GoogleMaps .

Material not physically examined. Unknown.

Literature. Viehmeyer (1916), Overbeck (1924).

Localities. Bukit Timah Road; Prince George’s Park Residences, University Town (both part of the National University of Singapore campus).

Habitat/Ecology. This species was found in a garden - colony in decaying wood on the ground, in tree stumps slightly above ground surface, nesting between stem and loose bark, closed

up with earth. Alates were found in disturbed secondary or wasteland forest patches, also grassy patches adjoining urban human dwellings.

Remarks. Species similar to T. melanocephalum , but may be differentiated partly by its generally lighter brown (head and mesosoma not blackish as in the latter) and relatively more uniform body colour. The two species can also be distinguished based on funicular segments – the third funicular segment (numbered from the basalmost segment) in T. indicum is wider than long, whereas in T. melanocephalum the same segment is distinctly longer than wide. In addition, funicular segments 4-8 of T. indicum are each at least as wide as long, while in T. melanochepalum these segments are clearly longer than wide.