Colobostruma leae

Colobostruma leae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Colobostruma
Species:	C. leae
Binomial name
	Colobostruma leae; (Wheeler, W.M., 1927) Specimen labels

This rare tropical species is found in rainforest and is likely arboreal (although nests have yet to be found).

At a Glance

• Phragmotic

Identification

This rare species is the only member of the genus with a phragmotic head (although Colobostruma lacuna, and to a lesser extent Colobostruma bicorna and Colobostruma unicorna, are subphragmotic). This distinctive head shape will readily separate this species from all others in the genus (Shattuck 2000).

Keys including this Species

Key to Australian Colobostruma Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -16.58333° to -18.60000038°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

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.

Elevation Range

Occurrence at collecting sites during elevational surveys of rainforest in the Eungella region, Queensland, Australia (Burwell et al., 2020).
Species	Elevation (m asl)
Species	200	400	600	800	1000	1200
Colobostruma leae					60-70
Shading indicates the bands of elevation where species was recorded. Numbers are the percentage of total samples containing this species.

Biology

Explore Overview of Colobostruma biology

Beyond what is stated in the introduction at the top of this page, little is know about the biology of Colobostruma leae. Until further studies reveal more about this species we can infer that its natural history and biology should be similar to other species in this genus. In general Colobostruma can be locally common although they are often overlooked. Most species have small colonies with less than 100 workers, and workers will lie motionless when disturbed. Nests can occur in soil usually under rocks, in cracks in rocks or in rotten logs. Only a single rainforest species is known to nest arboreally. Foraging is usually on the ground at night but occasionally they are found foraging on mallee. They are also commonly found in leaf litter.

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Castes


Holotype of Colobostruma leae. Queen. .	Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Nomenclature

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

leae. Epopostruma (Colobostruma) leae Wheeler, W.M. 1927f: 32, fig. 40 (q.) AUSTRALIA (Queensland).
- Type-material: holotype queen.
- Type-locality: Australia: Queensland, Cairns district (A.M. Lea).
- Type-depository: MCZC.
- Combination in Colobostruma: Brown, 1948e: 118.
- Status as species: Brown, 1948e: 118; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 60; Taylor, 1987a: 22; Bolton, 1995b: 146; Shattuck, in Bolton, 2000: 44 (redescription).
- Distribution: Australia.

Type Material

Epopostruma (Colobostruma) leae Wheeler, 1927: Holotype, queen, Cairns district, Queensland, Australia, A. M. Lea, Museum of Comparative Zoology.

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

Description

Worker

Shattuck (2000) - Anterior region of head extremely flattened and disc-like, the clypeus and frontal lobes expanded laterally into thin, sharply-edged flanges, the anterior sections of head separated from posterior sections by an angle at about the level of the eyes. Frontal lobes and lateral margins of clypeus smooth relative to the surrounding surface of the head. Mandibles broadly triangular. Hairs absent from dorsum of head. Posterior margin of head uniformly concave. Antenna with 6 segments, the scape weakly elbowed and without a subbasal lobe. Propodeum high, its posterior face approximately the same height as the petiolar node and with broad, thin lamellae. Lateral postpetiole drawn outwards into thin flange-like wings, the wings with translucent windows along both their anterior and posterior margins, the windows separated by a band of thickened integument and the anterior windows always smaller than the posterior windows. First gastral tergite very weakly and delicately sculptured , superimposed with low, closely spaced carinae on the anterior one-quarter. Body colour yellow, the gaster with an indistinct, broad medial band.

Etymology

Named for the collector of the type specimens.

References

Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 65: 1-1028 (page 44, see also)
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1948e. A preliminary generic revision of the higher Dacetini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 74: 101-129 (page 118, Combination in Colobostruma)
Burwell, C.J., Nakamura, A. 2020. Rainforest ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) along an elevational gradient at Eungella in the Clarke Range, Central Queensland coast, Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 125: 43-63.
Heterick, B.E. 2021. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part I: Systematics. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 86, 1-245 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2021.001-245).
Heterick, B.E. 2022. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part II: Distribution and biology. Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement 86: 247-510 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2022.247-510).
Shattuck, S. O. 2000. Genus Colobostruma. Genus Mesostruma. Genus Epopostruma. Pp. 31-67 in: Bolton, B. The ant tribe Dacetini. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 65: 1-1028.
Wheeler, W. M. 1927f. The physiognomy of insects. Q. Rev. Biol. 2: 1-36 (page 32, queen described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.