Apterostigma dentigerum

Apterostigma dentigerum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Apterostigma
Species:	A. dentigerum
Binomial name
Apterostigma dentigerum Wheeler, W.M., 1925 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Apterostigma collare angulatum Weber, 1938 Apterostigma collare dubium Weber, 1938

Identification

Mera-Rodriguez, et al. (2020) - Frontal lobes in frontal view with strong angle or posterolateral lobe; lateral-ventral margin of frontal lobe sinusoidal: convex posteriorly and curved towards dorsum, without any ventral curvature; and propodeum in lateral view with anterodorsal profile long and gradually very convex, posteriorly shorter and more curved (Lattke 1997).

Distribution

Mera-Rodriguez, et al. (2020) - Widely distributed in Central and South America. Its known range extends from Honduras to Mato Grosso, central Brazil (Lattke 1997; Mayhé-Nuñes and Jaffé 1998).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 15.6864989° to -1.6867°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica (type locality), Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela.

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

Expand Explore Fungus Growing  For additional details see Fungus growing ants. A handful of ant species (approx. 275 out of the known 15,000 species) have developed the ability to cultivate fungus within their nests. In most species the fungus is used as the sole food source for the larvae and is an important resource for the adults as well. Additionally, in a limited number of cases, the fungus is used to construct part of the nest structure but is not as a food source. These fungus-feeding species are limited to North and South America, extending from the pine barrens of New Jersey, United States, in the north (Trachymyrmex septentrionalis) to the cold deserts in Argentina in the south (several species of Acromyrmex). Species that use fungi in nest construction are known from Europe and Africa (a few species in the genera Crematogaster, Lasius). The details of fungal cultivation are rich and complex. First, a wide variety of materials are used as substrate for fungus cultivating. The so-called lower genera include species that prefer dead vegetation, seeds, flowers, fruits, insect corpses, and feces, which are collected in the vicinity of their nests. The higher genera include non leaf-cutting species that collect mostly fallen leaflets, fruit, and flowers, as well as the leafcutters that collect fresh leaves from shrubs and trees. Second, while the majority of fungi that are farmed by fungus-feeding ants belong to the family Lepiotaceae, mostly the genera Leucoagaricus and Leucocoprinus, other fungi are also involved. Some species utilise fungi in the family Tricholomataceae while a few others cultivate yeast. The fungi used by the higher genera no longer produce spores. Their fungi produce nutritious and swollen hyphal tips (gongylidia) that grow in bundles called staphylae, to specifically feed the ants. Finally, colony size varies tremendously among these ants. Lower taxa mostly live in inconspicuous nests with 100–1000 individuals and relatively small fungus gardens. Higher taxa, in contrast, live in colonies made of 5–10 million ants that live and work within hundreds of interconnected fungus-bearing chambers in huge subterranean nests. Some colonies are so large, they can be seen from satellite photos, measuring up to 600 m3. Based on these habits, and taking phylogenetic information into consideration, these ants can be divided into six biologically distinct agricultural systems (with a list of genera involved in each category): Nest Construction A limited number of species that use fungi in the construction of their nests. some Crematogaster some Lasius Lower Agriculture Practiced by species in the majority of fungus-feeding genera, including those thought to retain more primitive features, which cultivate a wide range of fungal species in the tribe Leucocoprineae. some Apterostigma Cyatta (1 species) some Cyphomyrmex Kalathomyrmex (1 species) Mycocepurus (6 species) Myrmicocrypta (31 species) Mycetarotes (4 species) Mycetosoritis (2 species) Mycetophylax (21 species) Paramycetophylax (1 species) Xerolitor (1 species) Coral Fungus Agriculture Practiced by species in the Apterostigma pilosum species-group, which cultivate fungi within the Pterulaceae. some Apterostigma Yeast Agriculture Practiced by species within the Cyphomyrmex rimosus species-group, which cultivate a distinct clade of leucocoprineaceous fungi derived from the lower attine fungi. some Cyphomyrmex Generalized Higher Agriculture Practiced by species in several genera of non-leaf-cutting "higher attine" ants, which cultivate a distinct clade of leucocoprineaceous fungi separately derived from the lower attine fungi. Mycetomoellerius (33 species) Paratrachymyrmex (9 species) Sericomyrmex (11 species) Trachymyrmex (9 species) Leaf-Cutter Agriculture A subdivision of higher attine agriculture practiced by species within several ecologically dominant genera, which cultivate a single highly derived species of higher attine fungus. Acromyrmex (51 species) Amoimyrmex (3 species) Atta (20 species) Note that the farming habits of Mycetagroicus (4 species) are unknown. Also, while species of Pseudoatta (2 species) are closely related to the fungus-feeding genus Acromyrmex, they are social parasites, living in the nests of their hosts and are not actively involved in fungus growing. ‎

Gonzalez et al. (2016) found that Pseudogaurax paratolmos, a fly in the family Chloropidae, parasitizes larvae of Apterostigma dentigerum. Larval flies are solitary ectoparasitoids, each of which attaches to a single ant larva and develops from larva to pupa in 2 wk, consuming nearly the entire host, and then ecloses as an adult 1 wk later. Overall parasitism prevalence was 6.8% of 203 nests, and flies were active during both the dry and rainy seasons. Intensity of parasitism ranged from 18.2 to 100% of larvae attacked per parasitized nest. No other species of Apterostigma that nested in the same localities were parasitized by the flies, including Apterostigma pilosum (n = 93 nests) and Apterostigma auriculatum (n = 10 nests). All immature ants, parasitized or not, as well as immature stages of Pseudogaurax paratolmos, were attended by adult ants that exhibited normal brood care behavior, including covering immatures with mycelia, grooming, and maintaining brood in the fungus garden.

Life History Traits

• Queen number: monogynous (Forsyth, 1981; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)
• Queen type: winged (Forsyth, 1981; Frumhoff & Ward, 1992) (queenless worker reproduction)

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code jtlc000004482. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by Rabeling.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Male (alate). Specimen code casent0612215. Photographer Estella Ortega, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by JTLC.

Nomenclature

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

• dentigerum. Apterostigma dentigerum Wheeler, W.M. 1925a: 51 (w.q.m.) COSTA RICA.
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “numerous”), 1 syntype queen, 2 syntype males.
  • [Note: Weber, 1958c: 246, cites 14w, 1q, 3m syntypes MCZC.]
  • Type-locality: Costa Rica: Zent, xii.1911 (W.M. Wheeler).
  • Type-depositories: LACM, MCZC.
  • Status as species: Weber, 1958c: 246; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 151 (redescription); Fernández & Serna, 2019: 839.
  • Senior synonym of angulatum: Weber, 1958c: 246; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 151.
  • Senior synonym of dubium: Weber, 1958c: 246; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 151.
  • Distribution: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama.
• angulatum. Apterostigma collare subsp. angulatum Weber, 1938b: 169, figs. 4, 12 (w.q.) PANAMA.
  • Type-material: 11 syntype workers, 1 syntype queen.
  • Type-localities: Panama: Canal Zone, Barro Colorado I., 25.vi.1924, no. 561 (W.M. Wheeler), Canal Zone, Barro Colorado I., 22.vii.1924, no. 739 (W.M. Wheeler), Canal Zone, Fort Sherman, 3.vii.1924, nos 595-6 (W.M. Wheeler).
  • Type-depository: MCZC (perhaps also AMNH).
  • Wheeler, G.C. 1949: 667 (l.).
  • Status as species: Weber, 1941b: 111.
  • Junior synonym of dentigerum: Weber, 1958c: 246; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 151.
• dubium. Apterostigma collare subsp. dubium Weber, 1938b: 168, figs. 6, 14, 19 (w.q.) PANAMA.
  • Type-material: 2 syntype workers, 1 syntype queen.
  • Type-locality: Panama: Canal Zone, Barro Colorado I., 31.vii.1924, no. 800 (W.M. Wheeler).
  • Type-depository: MCZC (perhaps also AMNH).
  • Status as species: Weber, 1941b: 110.
  • Junior synonym of dentigerum: Weber, 1958c: 246; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 151.

Worker Morphology

 Explore: Show all Worker Morphology data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

 • Caste: monomorphic

References

• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 74, catalogue)
• Cantone S. 2017. Winged Ants, The Male, Dichotomous key to genera of winged male ants in the World, Behavioral ecology of mating flight (self-published).
• Cantone S. 2018. Winged Ants, The queen. Dichotomous key to genera of winged female ants in the World. The Wings of Ants: morphological and systematic relationships (self-published).
• Cardenas, C.R., Mularo, A.J., Chavez, A.S., Adams, R.M.M. 2022. Limited genetic differentiation of Mycetomoellerius mikromelanos in Parque National Soberanía, Panama: Implications for queen dispersal. Biotropica 00: 1-15 (doi:10.1111/btp.13171).
• Gonzalez, C., Wcislo, W., Cambra, R., Wheeler, T., Fernandez-Marın, H. 2016. A new ectoparasitoid species of Pseudogaurax Malloch, 1915 (Diptera: Chloropidae), attacking the fungus-growing ant, Apterostigma dentigerum Wheeler, 1925 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 109(4): 639–645 (doi:10.1093/aesa/saw023).
• Hogan, C.T., Jones, T.H., Zhukova, M., Sosa-Calvo, J., Adams, R.M.M. 2017. Novel mandibular gland volatiles from Apterostigma ants. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 72: 56-62 (doi:10.1016/j.bse.2017.04.005).
• Lattke, J. E. 1997. Revisión del género Apterostigma Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arq. Zool. (São Paulo) 34: 121-221 (page 151, see also)
• Lorite, P., Palomeque, T. 2010. Karyotype evolution in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a review of the known ant chromosome numbers. Myrmecological News 13: 89-102.
• Mera-Rodríguez, D., Serna, F., Sosa-Calvo, J., Lattke, J., Rabeling, C. 2020. A checklist of the non-leaf-cutting fungus-growing ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Colombia, with new biogeographic records. Check List 16, 1205–1227 (doi:10.15560/16.5.1205).
• Moura, M.N., Cardoso, D.C., Cristiano, M.P. 2020. The tight genome size of ants: diversity and evolution under ancestral state reconstruction and base composition. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zlaa135 (doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa135).
• Weber, N. A. 1958d. Synonymies and types of Apterostigma (Hym: Formicidae). Entomol. News 69: 243-251 (page 246, senior synonym of angulatum and dubium)
• Wheeler, W. M. 1925a. Neotropical ants in the collections of the Royal Museum of Stockholm. Ark. Zool. 17A(8 8: 1-55 (page 51, worker, queen, male described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Basset Y., L. Cizek, P. Cuenoud, R. K. Didham, F. Guilhaumon, O. Missa, V. Novotny, F. Odegaards, T. Roslin, J. Schmidl et al. 2012. Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest. Science 338(6113): 1481-1484.
• Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
• Gomez V. E. S., and G. Z. González. 2007. Catalogo de Las Hormigas Presentes en El Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad del Cauca. Popayán : 1-58.
• Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
• Lattke J. E. 1997. Revisión del género Apterostigma Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arquivos do Instituto Biológico (São Paulo) 34: 121-221
• Longino J. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.
• Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
• Mayhe-Nunes A. J., and K. Jaffe. 1998. On the biogeography of attini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ecotropicos 11(1): 45-54.
• Sosa-Calvo J., F. Fernandez, and T. R. Schultz. 2018. Phylogeny and evolution of the cryptic fungus-farming ant genus Myrmicocrypta F. Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) inferred from multilocus data. Systematic Entomology DOI: 10.1111/syen.12313
• Villesen, P., U. Mueller, T.R. Schultz, R.M.M. Adams and A.C. Bouck. Evolution of Ant-Cultivar Specialization and Cultivar Switching in Apterostigma Fungus-Growing Ants. Evolution 58(10):2252-2265
• Weber N. A. 1938. The biology of the fungus-growing ants. Part IV. Additional new forms. Part V. The Attini of Bolivia. Rev. Entomol. (Rio J.) 9: 154-206.
• Weber N. A. 1941. The biology of the fungus-growing ants. Part VII. The Barro Colorado Island, Canal Zone, species. Rev. Entomol. (Rio J.) 12: 93-130.
• Weber N. A. 1958. Synonymies and types of Apterostigma (Hym: Formicidae). Entomological News 69: 243-251.
• Wheeler G. C. 1949. The larvae of the fungus-growing ants. Am. Midl. Nat. 40: 664-689.
• Wheeler W. M. 1925. Neotropical ants in the collections of the Royal Museum of Stockholm. Arkiv för Zoologi 17A(8): 1-55.