Zoology
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/3752
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Item Tetraponera modesta, a new pseudomyrmecine ant record (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for Sri Lanka(Ukrainska Entomofaunistyka 2020, 2020) Dias, R.K.S.; Udayakantha, W.S.; Thotagamuwa, A.; Akbar, S.A.Tetraponera modesta (F. Smith, 1860) is herewith recorded for the first time from Sri Lanka. With this addition number of known Sri Lankan species for the genus becomes five. The other four species are T. allaborans (Walker, 1859), T. nigra (Jerdon, 1851), T. nitida (Smith, 1860), and T. rufonigra (Jerdon, 1851). Among the known regional species, T. modesta is easily separable by smaller size, yellow to orange brown colouration of the head and mesosoma, and relatively slender petiole.Item The Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Sri Lanka: a taxonomic research summary and updated checklist(ZooKeys 967, 2020) Dias, R.K.S.; Guénard, B.; Akbar, S.A.; Economo, E.P.; Udayakantha, W.S.; Wachkoo, A.A.An updated checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Sri Lanka is presented. These include representatives of eleven of the 17 known extant subfamilies with 341 valid ant species in 79 genera. Lioponera longitarsus Mayr, 1879 is reported as a new species country record for Sri Lanka. Notes about type localities, depositories, and relevant references to each species record are given. Accounts of the dubious and some undetermined species from Sri Lanka are also provided. 82 species (24%) are endemic whereas 18 species that are non-native to Sri Lanka are recorded. The list provides a synthesis of the regional taxonomical work carried out to date and will serve as a baseline for future studies on the ant fauna of this biodiversity hotspot.Item Effects of a gel bait on the suppression of noxious Crematogaster rogenhoferi Mayr, 1879 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Sri Lanka(Caucasian Entomological Bulletin, Vol. 15. No.2., 2019) Dias, R.K.S.; Udeshika, K.G.I.Crematogaster rogenhoferi Mayr, 1879 in a home garden in Sri Lanka was reported to cause health hazards and an investigation was conducted from February to November in 2016 to list the tree species bearing its nests and to record the nest structure, nest intensity and colony demography for the evaluation of its level of infestation and to recommend a method for the suppression of its population size. Three types of nests on 19 tree species were recognized. The largest nest had all life stages. The standard laboratory experiment conducted with the provision of 0.25 g of Optigard Ant Gel bait (OAG) showed 68% of mean mortality of workers. A field experiment conducted by applying separate 1 cm band of OAG and honey at 10 cm and 1 cm distance from three initial stage nests and a honey band only at 1 cm distance from three control nests recorded a significantly higher 89.2% of mean mortality of workers. Two mature nests treated with OAG similarly while two other similar nests served as simultaneous control nests resulted significantly higher 97.5% of mean mortality of workers and queens in OAG-treated nests, after 24 hours. Hence, application of 1 cm band of OAG on the tree trunk, if essential, is recommended as a method for suppressing the population size of C. rogenhoferi in a home garden.Item Worker ant community observed in two rainy months and related information in a selected region of ‘Indikada Mukalana” Forest Reserve, a habitat of Aneuretus simoni Emery(The Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka, 2016) Dias, R.K.S.; Udayakantha, W.S.Item Host tree species, nest appearance and colony demography of medically important Tetraponera rufonigra Jerdon (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), in selected urban localities of Sri Lanka(The Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka, 2016) Fernando, K.S.S.D.; Dias, R.K.S.Item New species of the Pristomyrmex profundus Wang group from the Oriental Region (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae)(2016) Yamane, S.; Dias, R.K.S.Two new species of the ant genus Pristomyrmex Mayr belonging to the P. profundus Wang group are described from the Oriental Region: P. leleji Yamane et Dias, sp.n. from Thailand, and P. sinharaja Dias et Yamane, sp.n. from Sri Lanka. A key to species of the Pristomyrmex profundus group is presented.Item Nest density of Aneuretus simony Emery (Sri Lankan relict ant) and Stereomyrmex horni Emery in three forest regions in western and southern Sri Lanka(2014) Dias, R.K.S.; Ruchirani, H.P.G.R.C.Item Nest density and other observations on a population of Aneuretus simoni Emery, 1893 (Formicidae, Aneuretinae) and other ants in Indikada Mukalana Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka(Journal of Insect Biodiversity, 2016) Dias, R.K.S.; Udayakantha, W.S.The Sri Lankan Relict Ant, Aneuretus simoni Emery, survives in several wet zone and intermediate zone forests in Sri Lanka. Nests of this species and other ants were surveyed at 159 m and 291 m elevations in Indikada Mukalana Forest Reserve by laying 20 quadrats of 1 m × 1 m at two plots of each locality in December, 2015. The number of ant nests within each quadrat was recorded; then the frequency of nest occurrence out of 40 quadrats, percentage nest abundance and mean nest density of A. simoni, as well as associated ant fauna were calculated. Percentage frequency of worker ant occurrence was also investigated using pitfall traps. Eighteen genera and 21 species in Aneuretinae, Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae and Ponerinae were recorded from the two methods. Nests of A. simoni were found only in the locality at 291 m altitude in the forest; 17.5 % of quadrats with an A. simoni colonies, 9.7% of nest abundance in relation to that of other ant species and 0.18 m2 of mean nest density were observed. Nest density of A. simoni had the fourth rank among that of the other species. Frequency of occurrence of A. simoni workers in the pitfall traps at lower and upper elevations was 2% and 3%, respectively. An actualized map showing the current distribution of A. simoni is produced.Item Comparison of HPLC profiles of venom of Apis darsata fabricius (Giant Asian Honey Bee) and Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Western Honey bee)(2016) Gunasekara, D.L.P.E.; Handunnetti, S.M.; Premawansa, S.; Dias, R.K.S.; Witharana, E.W.R.A.; Dassanayake, W.M.D.K.; Premakumara, G.A.K.; De Silva, N.R.Item Immunochemical characterization of venom of medically important ants in Sri Lanka and determination of ant cross-reactivity with western ant species(2016) de Silva, B.D.; Handunnetti, S.M.; Premawansa, S.; Dias, R.K.S.; De Silva, N.R.