Diagnosis

Lordomyrma tortuosa, together with L. desupra , L. stoneri and L. vuda lacks a transverse carina on the dorsal face of its propodeum posterior to the metanotal groove and possesses a robust promesonotum that bulges above the level of its head and propodeum.  It can be readily distinguished from these three by the frontal carinae that join with the arcuate carinae posterior of the eye, and the presence of longitudinal carinae that run immediately inward from the frontal carinae.  Although the number and strength of these carinae vary, the variation does not appear to follow a distinguishable geographic pattern.

Measurement Table

n = 10	TL	HL	HW	CI	SI	REL	PSLI	MFLI	DPWI
min	4.15	0.93	0.82	0.87	0.69	0.18	0.96	0.94	1.00
max	4.53	1.01	0.90	0.91	0.76	0.24	1.11	1.02	1.11

Distribution & Biology

With many records from 8 of the archipelago's islands, L. tortuosa is far and away the most geographically widespread of Lordomyrma species occurring in Fiji.  The species is often collected from leaf litter, and nests of small colonies have been found in logs and under stones.  Additionally, L. tortuosa appears to be restricted to the lower elevations of the islands, with only two of the aforementioned 32 records being recorded from above 500 meters. Mann (1921) notes that he often found workers of this species foraging on mossy stones in ravines, and I have also observed workers gleaning the surfaces of stones on the banks of rivers.

Distribution Table

VL	VN	TV	KV	KR	LA	ML	BQ
x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

Type specimens

Rogeria tortuosa Mann, 1921: 452, fig 18. Syntypes, workers, Ovalau, Fiji (W. M. Mann).

Citation of original description

Mann, W. M. (1921). The ants of the Fiji Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 64: 401-499.

Synonyms

Rogeria tortuosa

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Classification