Crematogaster striatula

Crematogaster striatula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Crematogaster
Species:	C. striatula
Binomial name
Crematogaster striatula Emery, 1892 Specimen Labels
Subspecies
Crematogaster striatula benitensis Santschi, 1910 Crematogaster striatula horatii Santschi, 1937 Crematogaster striatula langi Santschi, 1926 Crematogaster striatula obstinata Santschi, 1911 Crematogaster striatula omega Santschi, 1935

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 6.5° to -0.317°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Afrotropical Region: Cameroun, Ivory Coast (type locality), Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone.

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

This species was observed in southern Cameroon tending extrafloral nectaries, sometimes in the presence of other co-occuring ant species.

Association with Other Organisms

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

• This species is a mutualist for the psyllid Diaphorina enderleini (a trophobiont) in Cameroon, Ethiopia (Aléné et al., 2011).
• This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Corydceps amoene-roseus (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
• This species is a associate (details unknown) for the fungus Pseudogibellula formicarum (a associate (details unknown)) (Quevillon, 2018).
• This species is a host for the fungus Akanthomyces gracilis (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
• This species is a host for the fungus Ophiocordyceps myrmicarum (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).
• This species is a host for the fungus Stilbella buquetti var. formicarum (a parasitoid) (Quevillon, 2018) (encounter mode primary; direct transmission; transmission outside nest).

Aléné et al. (2011) observed a very unusual behaviour between the psyllid Diaphorina enderleini and Pheidole megacephala and Crematogaster striatula. While female psyllids are laying eggs on the lower leaf surface, workers of P. megacephala quickly pile up detritus combined with soil around and partly above the psyllids, resulting in a shelter-like structure. Those of C. striatula build carton shelters. During this procedure the adult female psyllids hardly move away from their eggs and larvae. The psyllid larvae are arranged in tight rows along the leaf veins, especially the principal one, and sometimes at the base of very young branches. The larvae are mostly sedentary and only move, slowly and steadily, when disturbed. They do not produce wax, as can be expected from the almost complete lack of the circumanal ring. Females and larvae excrete large drops of honeydew, which are immediately recovered by ants. In Camponotus acvapimensis and Myrmicaria opaciventris the workers did not build any structure around the psyllids but they were observed taking honeydew from them.

Nomenclature

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

• striatula. Crematogaster striatulus Emery, 1892c: liii (w.) IVORY COAST.
  • Type-material: holotype (?) worker.
  • [Notes (i): no indication of number of specimens is given; (ii) Emery also mentions a single specimen, also from Assinie, “attached to the rostrum of a pentatomid” (E. Bergroth).]
  • Type-locality: Ivory Coast: Assinie (Ch. Alluaud).
  • Type-depository: MSNG.
  • [Misspelled as stridula by Menozzi, 1942: 169.]
  • Emery, 1899e: 482 (q.); Delage-Darchen, 1978: 293 (l.).
  • Combination in C. (Sphaerocrema): Santschi, 1918d: 182.
  • Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893: 86; Emery, 1899e: 482; Santschi, 1910c: 374; Stitz, 1910: 141; Santschi, 1911i: 282; Santschi, 1914c: 288; Santschi, 1914d: 342; Emery, 1922e: 153; Wheeler, W.M. 1922a: 157, 849; Santschi, 1926b: 223; Menozzi, 1942: 168; Eidmann, 1944: 447, 469; Donisthorpe, 1945d: 265; Bolton, 1995b: 163.
  • Distribution: Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea (+ Bioko), Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone.
  • Current subspecies: nominal plus benitensis, horatii, langi, obstinata, omega.

References

• Aléné, D.C., Djiéto-Lordon, C., Burckhardt, D. 2011. Unusual behaviour — unusual morphology: Mutualistic relationships between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Diaphorina enderleini (Hemiptera: Psylloidea), associated with Vernonia amygdalina (Asteraceae). African Invertebrates 52, 353–361 (doi:10.5733/afin.052.0210).
• Delage-Darchen, B. 1978. Les stades larvaires de Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) striatula, fourmi forestière d'Afrique [Hym. Formicidae]. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. (n.s.) 14: 293-299 (page 293, larva described)
• Emery, C. 1892h. [Untitled. From table of contents: "Sur une fourmi nouvelle d'Assinie et remarques sur les Dorylides d'Afrique."]. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. (Bull.) 61:liii-lv. (page liii, worker described)
• Emery, C. 1899d. Fourmis d'Afrique. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 43: 459-504 (page 482, queen described)
• Fotso, A. K., R. Hanna, M. Tindo, A. Doumtsop, and P. Nagel. 2015. How plants and honeydew-producing hemipterans affect ant species richness and structure in a tropical forest zone. Insectes Sociaux. 62:443-453. doi:10.1007/s00040-015-0423-5
• Santschi, F. 1918d. Sous-genres et synoymies [sic] de Cremastogaster (Hym. Formic.). Bull. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 1918: 182-185 (page 182, Combination in C. (Sphaerocrema))
• Yode, C.-V.D., Dosso, K., Kouakou, L.M.M., Kolo, Y., Dekoninck, W., Konate, S., Kouassi, K.P. 2020. Evaluating Efficiency of Different Sampling Methods for Arboreal Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in A West African Forest-Savanna Mosaic. Sociobiology 67, 492-500 (doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v67i4.5558).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Adenuga A. O. 1975. Mutualistic association between ants and some Homoptera - its significance in cocoa production. Psyche 82: 24-28.
• Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 3: 5-16.
• Belshaw R., and B. Bolton. 1994. A survey of the leaf litter ant fauna in Ghana, West Africa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 3: 5-16.
• Bernard F. 1953. La réserve naturelle intégrale du Mt Nimba. XI. Hyménoptères Formicidae. Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire 19: 165-270.
• Dejean A., F. Azemar, R. Cereghino, M. Leponce, B. Corbara, J. Orivel, and A. Compin. 2015. The dynamics of ant mosaics in tropical rainforests characterized using the SelfOrganizing Map algorithm. Insect Science doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.12208
• Delage-Darchen B. 1978. Les stades larvaires de Crematogaster (Sphaerocrema) striatula, fourmi forestière d'Afrique [Hym. Formicidae]. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. (n.s.) 14: 293-299.
• Donisthorpe H. 1945. New and rare species of Crematogaster Lund (Hym. Formicidae) from the Gold Coast, etc. Entomologist 78: 10-11.
• Donisthorpe H. 1945. On a small collection of ants (Hym., Formicidae) from West Africa, associated with Coccidae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (11)12: 265-273.
• Dufour B. 1991. Place et importance des différentes espèces d'insectes dans l'écologie du CSSV (Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus) au Togo). Café Cacao Thé 35(3): 197-204.
• Eidmann H. 1944. Die Ameisenfauna von Fernando Poo. 27. Beitrag zu den Ergebnissen der Westafrika-Expedition. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Ökol. Geogr. Tiere 76: 413-490.
• Emery C. 1899. Fourmis d'Afrique. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique 43: 459-504.
• IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection
• Kone M., S. Konate, K. Yeo, P. K. Kouassi, and K. E. Linsenmair. 2012. Changes in ant communities along an age gradient of cocoa cultivation in the Oumé region, central Côte d’Ivoire. Entomological Science 15: 324–339.
• Majer J. D. 1976. The influence of ants and ant manipulation on the cocoa farm fauna. The journal of Applied Ecology 13(1): 157-175.
• Medler J. T. 1980: Insects of Nigeria - Check list and bibliography. Mem. Amer. Ent. Inst. 30: i-vii, 1-919.
• Menozzi C. 1942. Formiche dell'isola Fernando Poo e del territorio del Rio Muni (Guinea Spagnola). 24. Beitrag zu den wissenschaftlichen Ergebnissen der Forschungsreise H. Eidmann nach Spanisch-Guinea 1939 bis 1940. Zoologischer Anzeiger 140: 164-182.
• Santschi F. 1910. Formicides nouveaux ou peu connus du Congo français. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 78: 349-400.
• Santschi F. 1914. Formicides de l'Afrique occidentale et australe du voyage de Mr. le Professeur F. Silvestri. Bollettino del Laboratorio di Zoologia Generale e Agraria della Reale Scuola Superiore d'Agricoltura. Portici 8: 309-385.
• Soulié J., and L. D. Dicko. 1965. La répartition des genres de fourmis de la tribu des "Cremastogastrini" dans la faune éthiopienne et malgache. Hymenoptera - Formicoidea - Myrmicidae. Ann. Univ. Abidjan Sér. Sci. 1: 85-106.
• Stitz H. 1910. Westafrikanische Ameisen. I. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 5: 125-151.
• Tadu Z., C. Djieto-Lordon, R. Babin, Yede, E. B. Messop-Youbi, and A. Fomena. 2013. Influence of insecticide treatment on ant diversity in tropical agroforestry system: some aspect of the recolonization process. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 5(12): 832-844.
• Taylor B. 1979. Ants of the Nigerian Forest Zone (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). III. Myrmicinae (Cardiocondylini to Meranoplini). Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria Research Bulletin 6: 1-65.
• Wheeler W. M. 1922. Ants of the American Museum Congo expedition. A contribution to the myrmecology of Africa. VIII. A synonymic list of the ants of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 45: 711-1004
• Yeo K., L. M. M. Kouakou, W. Dekoninck, K. Ouattara, and S. Konate. 2016. Detecting intruders: assessment of the anthropophilic ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the city of Abidjan and along access roads in Banco National Park (Côte d’Ivoire). Journal of Entomology and Zoological Studies 4(4): 351-359.
• Yeo K., S. Konate, S. Tiho, and S. K. Camara. 2011. Impacts of land use types on ant communities in a tropical forest margin (Oumé - Cote d'Ivoire). African Journal of Agricultural Research 6(2): 260-274.
• Yeo K., T. Delsinne, S. Komate, L. L. Alonso, D. Aidara, and C. Peeters. 2016. Diversity and distribution of ant assemblages above and below ground in a West African forest–savannah mosaic (Lamto, Cote d’Ivoire). Insectes Sociaux DOI 10.1007/s00040-016-0527-6