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The ant genus Vollenhovia Mayr, 1865 (Myrmicinae, Crematogastrini) mostly occurs in the Australasian and Oriental regions. We revised its diversity in India and Sri Lanka based on qualitative and quantitative morphology, recognizing eleven taxa, including a new species which is described herewith: V. escherichi Forel, 1911, V. gastropunctata Bharti & Kumar, 2013, V. karimalaensis Dhadwal et al., 2023, V. keralensis Kripakaran & Sadasivan, 2022, V. mawrapensis Dhadwal et al., 2023, V. oblonga laevithorax Emery, 1889, V. penetrans (Smith, 1857), V. pfeifferi Bharti et al., 2023, V. taylori Rilta et al., 2023, V. terayamai Rilta et al., 2023, and V. yasmeenae sp. nov. The subspecies status of V. oblonga laevithorax and its relationship with V. penetrans, whose type series does not contain workers, still requires to be assessed in the context of a broader revision including the whole Oriental region. The known distribution of the genus in the Indian subcontinent appears to be fragmentary, still requiring extensive sampling efforts. Four species are from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in the southern Indian state of Kerala, one is endemic to the biogeographically related Sri Lanka, three are known from Eastern India near the border with Bangladesh, two are reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and one is restricted to the Himachal Pradesh in northern India. A comprehensive key of the known Vollenhovia species from India and Sri Lanka is provided.
Temnothorax (Myrmicinae, Crematogastrini) is one of the most diverse Holarctic ant genera, and new taxonomic advancements are still frequent worldwide. The Mediterranean region, a global biodiversity hotspot characterized by a complex geographic history, is home to a substantial portion of its described diversity. Sicily is the region’s largest island and, as ongoing investigations are revealing, it is inhabited by a long-overlooked but highly diverse ant fauna that combines multiple biogeographic influences. We combined qualitative and quantitative morphology of multiple castes with phylogenomic analysis based on ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) to describe four species of Temnothorax endemic to Sicily and the neighboring Maltese Islands (Sicilian Channel). Three of these species, T. marae Alicata, Schifani & Prebus sp. nov., T. poldii Alicata, Schifani & Prebus sp. nov. and T. vivianoi Schifani, Alicata & Prebus sp. nov., are new to science, while a redescription clarifies the identity of T. lagrecai (Baroni Urbani, 1964). These descriptions highlight the current difficulties of delimiting monophyletic Temnothorax species groups based on morphological characters. The intra-insular endemicity patterns we revealed highlight the importance of Mediterranean paleogeography to contemporary ant diversity and distribution in the region.