Acropyga sauteri

Acropyga sauteri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Plagiolepidini
Genus:	Acropyga
Species group:	myops
Species:	A. sauteri
Binomial name
Acropyga sauteri Forel, 1912 Specimen Labels

Common Name
Mitsuba-ari
Language:	Japanese

This species has been found in grasslands, the margins of forests and within forests. Nests are under stones as well as in leaf litter and directly in soil. It is a trophophoretic species, associated with the mealybug Eumyrmococcus smithii, a trophobiont (Lapolla, 2004). Nuptial flights have been observed from late March to June with alate females leaving the parent nest with a gravid female Eumyrmococcus in her mandibles (Uye, 1928, 1933; Teranishi, 1929; Terayama, 1988).

Identification

LaPolla (2004) - A member of the Acropyga myops species group. Worker: 11 segmented antennae; mesosomal dorsum flat with many short erect hairs; pronotum short, rises very steeply toward mesonotum; mandible with 3-4 teeth. Queen: As in worker with modifications expected for caste. Male: 12 segmented antennae; digiti 2.5 times longer than cuspi, with peg-like teeth along sides. Compare with Acropyga lauta.

The worker of this species is fairly easily recognized, with 3-4 teeth and no diastema separating the basal teeth from the other teeth. A. sauteri is currently placed in the myops species-group. The long digiti, similar shaped parameres and dark color of the male suggest a close relationship with Acropyga myops.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Old World Acropyga Males
• Key to Old World Acropyga Queens
• Key to Old World Acropyga Workers

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 30.810593° to 22.157°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: Taiwan (type locality).
Palaearctic Region: China, Japan.

From LaPolla (2004): This species has one of the most northerly distributions in the genus, ranging from Japan south to Macao in southern China.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Flight Period

		X	X	X	X
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: Japanese Ant Image Database.

• Check details at Worldwide Ant Nuptial Flights Data, AntNupTracker and AntKeeping.
• Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Phylogeny

Acropyga

Acropyga ayanganna Acropyga donisthorpei Acropyga panamensis Acropyga guianensis Acropyga stenotes Acropyga fuhrmanni Acropyga smithii Acropyga romeo Acropyga hirsutula Acropyga dubitata Acropyga decedens, Acropyga goeldii Acropyga epedana Acropyga arnoldi Acropyga silvestrii Acropyga kinomurai Acropyga lauta Acropyga sauteri Acropyga acutiventris Acropyga myops Acropyga butteli Acropyga ambigua Acropyga pallida

Based on Blaimer et al., 2016. Note only selected Acropyga species are included, and undescribed species are excluded.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• sauteri. Acropyga (Rhizomyrma) sauteri Forel, 1912a: 72 (w.) TAIWAN.
  • Wheeler, W.M. 1928c: 31 (q.); Santschi, 1928b: 36 (q.m.).
  • Status as species: Emery, 1925b: 30; Santschi, 1928b: 36; Wheeler, W.M. 1928c: 31; Wheeler, W.M. 1929g: 62; Wheeler, W.M. 1930h: 75; Teranishi, 1940: 59; Azuma, 1951: 88; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 212; Onoyama, 1980: 199; Morisita, et al. 1991: 14; Wang, C. & Wu, 1992a: 227 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 58; Terayama, Fellowes & Zhou, 2002: 25 (redescription); Imai, et al. 2003: 83; Lin & Wu, 2003: 62; LaPolla, 2004a: 68; Terayama, 2009: 204; Ran & Zhou, 2011: 66; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 27.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

LaPolla (2004) - (n=2): TL: 2.16-2.59; HW: 0.527-0.568; HL: 0.561-0.596; SL: 0.413-0.418; ML: 0.681-0.687; GL: 0.909-1.31; CI: 101.25-105.2; SI: 66.67-72.71.

Head: yellow; head covered in layer of short appressed hairs; head about as broad as long; posterior margin slightly concave medially; short erect hairs along posterior margin; 11 segmented, incrassate antennae; scape reaches or slightly surpasses posterior margin; clypeus broad, slightly convex, with many erect hairs on dorsal surface; mandible with 3-4 teeth; apical tooth often much longer than others; when present, 4th tooth smaller and offset from masticatory margin; when with 3 teeth, a small hump present along inner mandibular margin where a 4th tooth would be; gap exists between inner mandibular margin and anterior clypeal margin. Mesosoma: yellow; in lateral view, pronotum with short shelf rising sharply toward mesonotum; pronotum covered with short erect hairs; mesosomal dorsum flat; mesonotum and propodeum at same height; mesonotum and propodeum covered in layer of short erect hairs; metanotal area indistinct; declivity steep. Gaster: petiole thick and erect reaching height of bottom portion of propodeal spriacle; gaster yellow, with thick covering of appressed hairs with scattered erect hairs throughout.

Queen

LaPolla (2004) - (n=1): TL: 3.39; HW: 0.732; HL: 0.619; SL: 0.495; ML: 1.19; GL: 1.58; CI: 118.26; SI: 67.62. As in worker with modifications expected for caste and the following differences: color a brownish-yellow, darker on apex of head, mesosomal and gaster dorsa.

Male

LaPolla (2004) - (n=1): TL: 2.21; HW: 0.5; HL: 0.452; SL: 0.371; ML: 0.819; GL: 0.941; CI: 110.62; SI: 74.2.

Head: yellow to dark brownish-yellow toward apex around 3 promient ocelli; head covered in a layer of short erect hairs; head broader than long; 12 segmented, slightly incrassate antennae; scape surpasses posterior margin by about 112 length of pedicel; clypeus broad, convex medially; mandible with 3-4 teeth; mandibular shape as in worker. Mesosoma: brownish-yellow; pronotum small and collar-like, overarched by mesonotum; dorsum flat with dense layer of short erect hairs; scutellum with longer erect hairs; propodeum long, slightly below level of mesonotum; declivity short and steep. Gaster: petiole thick and erect; gaster brownish yellow, covered in a layer of appressed hairs. Genitalia: in lateral view, parameres long and thin, tapering to rounded apices; cuspi short, nearly straight, with short peg-like teeth at rounded apices; digiti straight, much longer than cuspi (ca. 2.5 times), with short, peg-like teeth along sides toward truncated apices.

Type Material

LaPolla (2004) - Acropyga (Rhizomyrma) sauteri Forel, 1912a: 72 (w.). Syntype workers, TAIWAN: (no specific locality provided) (depository unknown) [not examined]. Wheeler, W.M., 1928: 31, description of queen; Santschi, 1928a: 36, description of queen and male; Terayama et ai., 2002: 25, description and key.

References

• Forel, A. 1912b. H. Sauter's Formosa-Ausbeute. Formicidae (Hym.) (Schluss). Entomol. Mitt. 1: 67-81 (page 72, worker described)
• Imai, H.T., Kihara, A., Kondoh, M., Kubota, M., Kuribayashi, S., Ogata, K., Onoyama, K., Taylor, R.W., Terayama, M., Yoshimura, M., Ugawa, Y. 2003. Ants of Japan. 224 pp, Gakken, Japan.
• LaPolla, J.S. 2004a. Acropyga of the world. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute. 33(3):1-130. (page 68, fig. 28C, worker described)
• Park, J., Park, J. 2021. Complete mitochondrial genome of the gate-keeper ant Colobopsis nipponica (Wheeler, W.M., 1928) (Formicidae: Hymenoptera). Mitochondrial DNA Part B 6, 86–88 (doi:10.1080/23802359.2020.1845581).
• Santschi, F. 1928b. Nouvelles fourmis de Chine et du Turkestan Russe. Bull. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 68: 31-46 (page 36, queen, male described)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1928c. Ants collected by Professor F. Silvestri in China. Boll. Lab. Zool. Gen. Agrar. R. Sc. Super. Agric. 22: 3-38 (page 31, queen described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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• Azuma M. 1951. On the Myrmecological fauna of Osaka Prefecture, Japan with description of new species (Formicidae, Hymenoptera). Hyogo Biology 1(5): 1-5.
• Azuma, S. and M. Kinjo. 1987. Family Formicidae, In Checklist of the insects of Okinawa. The Biological Society of Okinawa, Nishihara. Pages 310-312.
• Blaimer B. B., J. S. LaPolla, M. G. Branstetter, M. W. Lloyd, and S. G. Brady. 2016. Phylogenomics, biogeography and diversification of obligate mealybug-tending ants in the genus Acropyga. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 102: 20-29.
• Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
• Forel A. 1912. H. Sauter's Formosa-Ausbeute. Formicidae (Hym.) (Schluss). Entomol. Mitt. 1: 45-61.
• Fukumoto S., Jaitrong W. and Yamane S.K. 2013. Ant Fauna of Kuro-shima, Iwo-jima and Take-shima islands, Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. Nature of Kagoshima 39: 119-125
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• Li Z.h. 2006. List of Chinese Insects. Volume 4. Sun Yat-sen University Press
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• Ran H., and S. Y. Zhou. 2011. Checklist of Chinese Ants: the Formicomorph Subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (I). Journal of Guangxi Normal University: Natural Science Edition. 29(3): 65-73.
• Santschi F. 1928. Nouvelles fourmis de Chine et du Turkestan Russe. Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 68: 31-46.
• Terayama M. 1981. Distribution of ants of the Nansei Archipelago. (I) Ants in the Amami Islands. Nature and Insects 16(8): 34-36.
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