Colobostruma sisypha

Colobostruma sisypha
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Colobostruma
Species:	C. sisypha
Binomial name
	Colobostruma sisypha; Shattuck, 2000 Specimen Label

Colobostruma sisypha is the most commonly encountered species in the genus and is found along most of the east coast of Australia. It occurs in a wide range of forested habitats from rainforest through dry sclerophyll. Nests are found in soil under and between rocks.

Identification

Shattuck (2000) - Separated from most other species in the group by the 5- or 6-segmented antennae, the shallowly concave posterior margin of the head and the uniformly rounded dorsal surface of the head (without any indication of phragmatism). Separation from the morphologically similar Colobostruma mellea is discussed under that species. C. sisypha shows considerable variation in colour. The head varies from uniform yellow to yellow with an infuscated spot on the dorsal surface (above the compound eyes) and another on the clypeus. The gaster generally has an infuscated diamond near the centre of the first tergite with dark triangles laterally. However, the pattern on the gaster varies from being absent or essentially absent to being a dark band across the gaster. The variation in these colour patterns is continuous with little suggestion of obvious subsets.

Keys including this Species

Key to Australian Colobostruma Species

Distribution

Eastern coastal Australia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -12.71667° to -35.81666946°.


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 sisypha	10-20	0-10
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 sisypha. 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

Nomenclature

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

sisypha. Colobostruma sisypha Shattuck, in Bolton, 2000: 37, figs. 39-41, 46 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA.

Type Material

Paratype Specimen Labels

Holotype, worker, Mt. Coot-tha, Brisbane, Queensland, 300-800 ft, Australia, 29 December 1964, B.B. Lowery, Australian National Insect Collection; open sclerophyll, under rocks in soil on slope of ridge, found in nests of Polyrhachis ammon and Pseudoneoponera mayri.
Paratype, 25 workers, 1 queen, Mt. Coot-tha, Brisbane, Queensland, 300-800 ft, Australia, 29 December 1964, B.B. Lowery, Australian National Insect Collection, The Natural History Museum, Museum of Comparative Zoology; open sclerophyll, under rocks in soil on slope of ridge, found in nests of Polyrhachis ammon and Pseudoneoponera mayri.

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

Description

Worker

HOLOTYPE WORKER. TL 2.6, HL 0.61, HW 0.56, CI 91, ML 0.15, MI 25, SL 0.30, SI 54, PW 0.36, AL 0.66. Anterior region of head rounding gradually from the dorsal to lateral surfaces, not phragmotic. In full-face view ridge immediately in front of eye weakly concave. 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 shallowly concave. Antenna with 5 or more segments, the segments of the funiculus often partially or completely subdivided into additional subsegments. Scape elbowed and without a subbasal lobe. In dorsal view the pronotal humeral angles only slightly wider than the anterior one-third of the pronotum. Propodeum high, its posterior face approximately the same height as the petiolar node and with broad, thin lamellae; in profile the dorsum of the alitrunk essentially flat or with a slight angle at the junction of the mesonotum and propodeum. 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 narrow band of thickened integument and the anterior windows smaller than the posterior windows. First gastral tergite superimposed with weakly defined reticulate sculpturing and with low, closely spaced carinae on the anterior one-quarter to one-third. Body colour yellow to yellow brown, upper surface of the head often with small areas of weak to strong infuscation immediately anterior to the posterior margin and on the posteromedial section of the clypeus, first gastral tergite sometimes with slightly infuscated, weakly defined spots medially and laterally or a medial band.

References

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.
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 (page 37, figs. 39-41 worker, queen described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65