''Tetramorium smaug'' is a species of

myrmicine Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and ...

ant native to Ambatovy,

Amber Mountain National Park Montagne d'Ambre National Park is a national park in the Diana Region of northern Madagascar. The park is known for its endemic flora and fauna, water falls and crater lakes. It is north of the capital, Antananarivo and is one of the most biolog ...

, and

Ivohibe Ivohibe is a hilly town in Ihorombe Region in central Madagascar. It is connected with Ihosy (110 km) in the west, and Farafangana (162 km) in the east by the largely unpaved Route nationale 27. See also Pic d'Ivohibe Reserve and the Andringit ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It was found in montane rainforests around elevations of . It is believed to live in vegetation as opposed to on the forest floor. Coloration is dark brown or black. The head and

mesosoma The mesosoma is the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings. In hymenopterans of t ...

have rough surfaces while the gaster is smooth. The head has a large number of hairs, but the amount of hair decreases on each segment posteriorly. The species has long propodeal spines with a broad base. It was named after the

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Smaug Smaug () is a dragon and the main antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', his treasure and the mountain he lives in being the goal of the quest. Powerful and fearsome, he invaded the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor 150 years prior ...

from

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

's novel ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

''.

References

External links

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''Tetramorium smaug''
a
AntWiki

smaug Smaug () is a dragon and the main antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', his treasure and the mountain he lives in being the goal of the quest. Powerful and fearsome, he invaded the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor 150 years prior ...

Insects of Madagascar Insects described in 2012 Hymenoptera of Africa Organisms named after Tolkien and his works {{myrmicinae-stub