Dacatria templaris

Dacatria templaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Dacatria
Species:	D. templaris
Binomial name
	Dacatria templaris; Rigato, 1994 Specimen Label

This is the only species of Dacatria and it is only known from a few collections. Eguchi, Bui and Yamane (2011) - Dacatria templaris is a ground-dwelling species in well-developed forests, and nests in litter and underground. Workers are brick red and dull and are clad in dirt, and similar to Proatta butteli Forel. When their nests are exposed, the cryptic workers freeze for a while, making them very difficult to detect.

Photo Gallery

Dacatria templaris worker, South Korea. Photo by Minsoo Dong.
Dacatria templaris worker, South Korea. Photo by Minsoo Dong.
Dacatria templaris queen, South Korea. Photo by Minsoo Dong.
Dacatria templaris male, South Korea. Photo by Minsoo Dong.

Identification

Eguchi, Bui and Yamane (2011) - The worker of the single species in the genus has the following features. Worker monomorphic; head in full-face view subrectangular, with a shallow central longitudinal furrow; preoccipital region forming a distinct carina which surrounds the pronotal neck; frontal lobe well developed and raised; frontal carina and antennal scrobe absent; median portion of clypeus raised, with nearly vertical anterior face; median clypeal seta absent; lateral portion of clypeus modified into a distinct ridge or wall in front of antennal insertion; posteromedian portion of clypeus narrowly inserted between frontal lobes; antenna 12-segmented with indistinct 3-segmented club; eye small, convex well laterad, located before midlength of side of head in full-face view; mandible triangular; masticatory margin of mandible with apical and two preapical teeth, followed by two small teeth (5 teeth in total); promesonotum domed, with a pair of rounded and low humeral tubercles; promesonotal suture absent dorsally; metanotal groove well defined, with a small prominence in front of groove; propodeal spine long; propodeal lobe developed, round; petiole with long peduncle and low node; postpetiole short and high; gastral shoulder absent; sting simple; standing hairs absent from dorsum of body (simple standing hairs present at apex of gaster and on mandible, and slightly clavate hairs on third segment of gaster).

The worker of Dacatria is easily distinguished from that of other myrmicine genera known from Vietnam by the morphology of lateral portion of clypeus and humeral tubercles of the promesonotum.

Distribution

Known from China, Republic of Korea and Vietnam.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Oriental Region: Vietnam.
Palaearctic Region: China, Republic of Korea (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.

Biology

Rigato (1994) reported the collector (Dacatra) of the single type specimen stated the ant was found "in a nearly subtropical environment with bamboo trees growing on the southern slope of mountains, at rather low altitude, (500-1000 m)." Collections have also been made in evergreen forest.

Castes

Described from a single worker. A queen of this species USNM has been collected but has not been described. Males are unknown.

Queen

Images from AntWeb


Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0103120. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by USNM, Washington, DC, USA.

Nomenclature

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

templaris. Dacatria templaris Rigato, 1994b: 157, figs. 1-3 (w.) KOREA.
- Type-material: holotype worker.
- Type-locality: Republic of Korea: Chiri San Nat. Park, Hwaeomsa Temple, 20.vii.1988 (S. Dacatra).
- Type-depository: MSNM.
- Status as species: Bolton, 1995b: 168; Zhou, 2001b: 141; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 43.
- Distribution: China, Korea.

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 about 3.5 mm, HL 0.86, HW 0.68, SL 0.75, CI 79, SI 110, PW 0.54, AL 1.22. eye diameter 0.05 (0.07 x HW)

The ground sculpture of head, alitrunk. petiole, postpetiole, and scapes is irregular and weak, it may be defined as granulate. Head and alitrunk are mostly areolate-rugose or areolate-rugulose. Rugulae on the head prevail in the central portion, and on the clypeus, rugae and rugulae absent from the antennal sockets and frontal area.

Mandibles irregularly costulate and striolate.

The frontal triangle is rather smooth with feeble longitudinal costulae which are present also in the wider portion of the cephalic furrow. Frontal lobes and c1ypeus mostly faintly rugulose. Antennal sockets granulate. Nuchal border with widely spaced irregular costae. Scapes coarsely granulate with superimposed irregular anastomosing rugulae chiefly in their proximal half.

Pronotum areolate-rugose or rugulose. The mesonotum has a more longitudinal pattern of sculpture. Alitrunk irregularly rugose on the sides. Metanotal groove well developed and with short longitudinal costae. The space between the bases of the propodeal spines is transversely costate. Descending face of the propodeum laterally delimited by two low carinae formed by the continuation of the inferior edges of the spines. The portion between the carinae looks nearly smooth with scattered faint rugulae only.

Petiole areolate-rugulose above, except the top of the node. Laterally there is a quite evident longitudinal carina separating the tergite from the sternite. The postpetiole does not have rugae or rugulae.

Coxae sculptured as the alitrunk. Femora and tibiae mostly granulate or reticulate and quite faintly areolate-rugulose.

The surface of the gaster is smooth and almost unsculptured, only poorly puncticulate; some very short costae occur near the base.

Hairs nearly absent; they occur only on the third and fourth gastral segments and on the mandibles. Suberect or subdecumbent slightly clavate setae form a single central transverse row of well spaced elements on the third tergite and sternite. Appressed or decumbent simple hairs occur towards the tip ofthe gaster, they are denser and longer around the anus.

Pubescence seem absent from the dorsum of head and alitrunk. It is very short, appressed and scattered on gaster, mandibles, and scapes: it is longer and/or more plentiful on the legs and on the anterior edge of the clypeus.

Type Material

A single (holotype) worker (in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano): REPUBLIC of KOREA. Chiri San National Park. Hwaeomsa Temple. 20-VII-1988 S. Dacatra legit.

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
Lyu D.P. 2003. Systematics of Myrmicinae from Korea (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). PhD thesis Faculty of the Graduate School of Chungbuk National University 330 pages.
Park, Seong, Joon and Byung, and Kim, Jin. 2002. Faunal Comparison of Ants among Cheongsando and Other Islands of South Sea in Korea. Korean Jornal of Entomology. 32(1):7-12.
Rigato F. 1994. Dacatria templaris gen. n., sp. n. A new myrmicine ant from the Republic of Korea. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 41:155-162
Terayama M., and B. M. Choi. 1996. A description of the female of Dacatria templaris Rigato, 1994, from South Korea (Hymenoptera; Formicidae). Ari. 20: 1-4.
Zhou S.-Y. 2001. Ants of Guangxi. Guangxi Normal University Press, Guilin, China, Guilin, China. 255 pp.