Azteca lallemandi

Azteca lallemandi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Tribe:	Leptomyrmecini
Genus:	Azteca
Species group:	aurita
Species:	A. lallemandi
Binomial name
Azteca lallemandi Forel, 1899 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
Azteca lanuginosa pruinosa Mann, 1916

The type specimens were collected in a carton nest on a Cecropia trunk.

Identification

A member of the Azteca aurita group. See the group page and keys for identification.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Azteca aurita group queens
• Key to Azteca aurita group workers

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 11.297554° to 9.15°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia (type locality), Panama.

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

Explore Overview of Azteca biology  All known Azteca species are arboreal, nesting in living or dead wood, or external carton nests. Some species exhibit obligate associations with myrmecophytes, especially of the genus Cecropia (see Chapter 14 of The Ants). Feeding habits are generalized with foraging occurring both arboreally and on the ground. ‎

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Azteca lallemandi. Worker. Specimen code casent0909644. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Syntype of Azteca lanuginosa pruinosa. Worker. Specimen code casent0909645. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Nomenclature

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

• lallemandi. Azteca lallemandi Forel, 1899c: 119 (footnote) (w.) COLOMBIA.
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • [Notes (i): Baroni Urbani, 1977e: 81, cites 1w syntype NHMB; (ii) Shattuck, 1994: 20, cites 44w syntypes (3 MCZC, 40 MHNG, 1 NHMB).]
  • Type-locality: Colombia: foot of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Naranjo (A. Forel).
  • Type-depositories: MCZC, MHNG, NHMB.
  • Longino, 2007: 56 (q.).
  • Status as species: Emery, 1913a: 33; Kempf, 1972a: 33; Shattuck, 1994: 20; Bolton, 1995b: 79; Longino, 2007: 56 (redescription); Guerrero, et al. 2010: 53 (in key); Guerrero, 2019: 706.
  • Senior synonym of pruinosa: Longino, 2007: 56.
  • Distribution: Brazil, Colombia, Panama.
• pruinosa. Azteca lanuginosa subsp. pruinosa Mann, 1916: 472 (w.) BRAZIL (Rondônia).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated, “a number”).
  • [Note: Shattuck, 1994: 20, cites 15w syntypes (8 MCZC, 3 MHNG, 4 USNM).]
  • Type-locality: Brazil: Mato Grosso (now Rondônia), Abuná, 1911, (Stanford Expd.) (W.M. Mann).
  • Type-depositories: MCZC, MHNG, USNM.
  • Subspecies of lanuginosa: Borgmeier, 1923: 93; Kempf, 1972a: 33; Shattuck, 1994: 20; Bolton, 1995b: 79.
  • Junior synonym of lallemandi: Longino, 2007: 56.

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

Description

Worker

Longino (2007) - (n=2): HLA 1.22 (1.11–1.32), HW 1.21 (1.11–1.30), SL 1.11 (1.03–1.19), CI 99 (98–100), SI 92 (90–93).

Compared to Azteca pilosula and Azteca aurita, head relatively broader (CI > 105 versus < 106), posterolateral margins of vertex more rounded and cordate, not as angulate. Compared to A. pilosula, A. lallemandi has a deeper, more convex posteroventral petiolar lobe.

Queen

Longino (2007) - (n=4): HLA 1.27 (1.22–1.32), HW 1.22 (1.21–1.30), SL 1.18 (1.13–1.27), CI 99 (95–99), SI 94 (90–96).

Palpal formula 4,3; middle and hind tibia lacking apical spur; mandible strongly flattened, apical tooth much longer than penultimate tooth, dorsal surface smooth and shiny, pubescent; medial clypeal lobe strongly convex and protruding, extending well beyond lateral clypeal lobes; head quadrate, sides flat and diverging posteriorly, posterior margin strongly angulate laterally, deeply excavate medially; petiolar node short, bluntly triangular; posteroventral petiolar lobe deep, strongly convex from front to back, laterally compressed and tectiform; lateral and posterior margins of head, mesosomal dorsum, dorsal and ventral margins of petiole, and gaster covered with uniform vestiture of short, dense, white pilosity; scape and legs lacking erect setae; entire body orange, with smooth, highly polished and reflective surface.

Type Material

Longino (2007) - Syntype workers: Colombia, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Naranjo (Forel) Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève, Museum of Comparative Zoology (examined).

References

• Forel, A. 1899h. Formicidae. [part]. Biol. Cent.-Am. Hym. 3: 105-136 (page 119, (footnote) soldier, worker described)
• Longino, J.T. 2007. A taxonomic review of the genus Azteca in Costa Rica and a global revision of the aurita group. Zootaxa. 1491:1-63.