''Meranoplus cryptomys'' is a

Malagasy Malagasy may refer to: *Someone or something from Madagascar *Malagasy people *Malagasy language *Malagasy Republic *Related to the culture of Madagascar See also *Madagascar (disambiguation) Madagascar is an island country located off the east ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,0 ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Meranoplus ''Meranoplus'' is an Old World genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. With over 80 valid species, it is predicted that over half of the ''Meranoplus'' diversity remains undescribed, most of these from Australia. Classification ''Meranoplus ...

''. Despite the infrequent collection of this presumably rare species, ''M. cryptomys'' has a relatively broad range within the spiny forest/thickets and savanna woodland habitats of Madagascar. Workers of ''Meranoplus cryptomys'' are only known from two individuals collected at

Tsimanampetsotsa Lake Tsimanampetsotsa (french: Lac Tsimanampetsotsa) (also called Lake Tsimanampesotse) is a moderately alkaline lake in the Toliara Province, in the southwestern part of Madagascar. It is located at around . The lake is protected within Ts ...

, while gynes have been collected at the

Isalo Isalo is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Miandrivazo, which is a part of Menabe Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 8,000 in 2001 commune census. Only Primary ...

and

Andohahela National Park Andohahela National Park, in south-east Madagascar, is remarkable for the extremes of habitats that are represented within it. The park covers of the Anosy mountain range, the southernmost spur of the Malagasy Highlands and contains the last hum ...

s and the

Beza Mahafaly Reserve The Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve is a nature reserve in Madagascar northeast of Betioky Sud. The reserve also provides training and research opportunities. It consists of a fenced gallery forest, approximately , separated by from a gallery of ...

. Neither hand-collected workers nor nests have been collected; all known individuals are from

Malaise As a medical term, malaise is a feeling of general discomfort, uneasiness or lack of wellbeing and often the first sign of an infection or other disease. The word has existed in French since at least the 12th century. The term is often used ...

pitfall trap A pitfall trap is a trapping pit for small animals, such as insects, amphibians and reptiles. Pitfall traps are a sampling technique, mainly used for ecology studies and ecologic pest control. Animals that enter a pitfall trap are unable to esca ...

s. Although two female castes have not been collected together, they share characteristics unique to the Malagasy ''Meranoplus'' and indicate they belong to the same species: comparatively short scapes, widely set clypeal denticles, high oculomandibular indices (OMI), characters of sculpturation, and the striking orange bicoloration. The strong orange and black bicolored coloration of ''M. cryptomys'' is notable for its similarity to that of '' M. mayri''. These two species overlap in range across the south and southeast of Madagascar, from Andohahela to Isalo. Males are unknown.

References

* Myrmicinae Hymenoptera of Africa Insects described in 2013 {{myrmicinae-stub