Crematogaster brunnea

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Crematogaster brunnea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Crematogaster
Species: C. brunnea
Binomial name
Crematogaster brunnea
Smith, F., 1857

Crematogaster brunnea casent0901435 p 1 high.jpg

Crematogaster brunnea casent0901435 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Subspecies

Identification

Crematogaster brunnea is a complex species group consisting of six species. General characters are reddish brown colouration, head smooth and shining with faint striations near base of antennae and gena, head wider than the mesosoma, the vertex slightly emarginated; mesosoma in lateral view finely striated longitudinally, metanotum deeply concave with acute spine; petiole heart shaped, flattened above; postpetiole globose and biturberculate dorsally; gaster smooth and shining.

Crematogaster contemta (often as Crematogaster brunnea contemta) is a light bicoloured yellowish subspecies with darker brown gaster, propodeal spines small sharply pointed, thick at the base, directed downward.

Crematogaster brunnea nicevillei is a darker subspecies with smaller spines, deep metanotal groove, raised mesonotum and faintly striate gena.

Crematogaster brunnea nilgirica is restricted to southern India with prominent striations on head and mesosomal dorsum, propodeal spines large, diverging, fronto clypeal sulcus more or less pointed.

Crematogaster brunnea rabula is a dull brownish coloured subspecies with pronotum and propodeum dorsally feebly striate, propodeal spines short, pointed, thick at base diverging outwards.

Crematogaster brunnea ruginota is a light yellowish brown coloured subspecies with deep metanotal groove, strongly raised pro- and mesonotum, propodeal declivity truncate, propodeal spines smaller, pointed, thick at base, directed upward. (Akbar et al., 2023)

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 36.65166667° to 2.547988°.

     
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Indo-Australian Region: Borneo (type locality), Indonesia, Malaysia.
Oriental Region: India, Sri Lanka.
Palaearctic Region: China.

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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.
pChart

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.
pChart

Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • brunnea. Crematogaster brunneus Smith, F. 1857a: 75 (w.) BORNEO (East Malaysia: Sarawak).
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
    • [Note: Donisthorpe, 1932c: 450, cites 2w syntypes OXUM; Bolton (unpublished notes) 1978, cites 4w syntypes (2 BMNH, 2 OXUM).]
    • Type-locality: Malaysia: Sarawak, “Sar.” (A.R. Wallace).
    • Type-depositories: BMNH, OXUM.
    • [Misspelled as brunea by Dalla Torre, 1893: 80.]
    • Combination in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 149;
    • combination in C. (Crematogaster): Bolton, 1995b: 166.
    • Status as species: Smith, F. 1858b: 138; Mayr, 1863: 404; Roger, 1863b: 37; Smith, F. 1871a: 329; Mayr, 1886c: 360; Dalla Torre, 1893: 80; Wheeler, W.M. 1919e: 71; Emery, 1922e: 149; Wheeler, W.M. 1927h: 87; Wheeler, W.M. 1929f: 4; Donisthorpe, 1932c: 450; Chapman & Capco, 1951: 86; Morisita, et al. 1992: 60; Bolton, 1995b: 149; Pfeiffer, et al. 2011: 45; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 42; Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 36; Dias, R.K.S. et al. 2020: 69.
    • Distribution: China, India, Malaysia (Sarawak), Sri Lanka.
    • Current subspecies: nominal plus latipetiolata, nicevillei, nilgirica, rabula, ruginota, sundaica.

The following notes on F. Smith type specimens have been provided by Barry Bolton (details):

Crematogaster brunneus

Two worker syntypes in Oxford University Museum of Natural History, two worker syntypes in The Natural History Museum. Labelled “Sar.”

Description

Karyotype

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • 2n = 36, karyotype = 32M+4A (India) (Imai et al., 1984).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • 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
  • Dias R. K. S. 2002. Current knowledge on ants of Sri Lanka. ANeT Newsletter 4: 17- 21.
  • Gay H., and R. Hensen. 1992. Ant specificity and behaviour in mutualisms with epiphytes: the case of Lecanopteris (Polypodiaceae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 47: 261-284.
  • Hosoishi S. and K. Ogata. 2009. A check list of the ant genus Crematogaster in Asia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bull. Inst. Trop. Agr. Kyushu Univ. 32: 43-83.
  • Kim et al. 1993. Systematic study of ants from Chejudo Province. Koran Journal of Entomology 23(3): 117-141.
  • Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
  • Sheikh A. H., M. Manzoor, Y. A. Rather, and T. Jobiraj. 2019. Taxonomic study of ant (Formicidae : Hymenoptera) fauna of Dumna Nature Park, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. Journal of Entomological Research 43(2): 203-212.
  • Smith, F.. "Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects collected at Sarawak, Borneo; Mount Ophir, Malacca; and at Singapore, by A. R. Wallace." Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 2 (1857): 42-88.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1919. The ants of Borneo. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 63:43-147.