Octostruma rugifera

Octostruma rugifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Octostruma
Species:	O. rugifera
Binomial name
Octostruma rugifera (Mayr, 1887) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Rhopalothrix truncata Forel, 1912

Nothing is known about the biology of Octostruma rugifera.

At a Glance

• Ergatoid queen

Identification

Keys including this Species

• Key to Octostruma species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 9.266667° to -27.818°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela.

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

Explore Overview of Octostruma biology  Longino (2013) - Brown and Kempf (1960) summarized the biology of basicerotines as follows: The basicerotines all come from tropical or subtropical areas, and predominantly from mesic habitats, particularly rain forest, where they live primarily in the upper layers of the soil and in the soil cover, including large and small pieces of rotten wood. They are fairly common in soil cover berlesates. Nests have been found in snail shells, and in the peaty masses gathered about epiphytic ferns above the ground level. So far as is known, colonies are small, consisting of one or more dealate—or rarely ergatoid—females, and a few workers. Judging from the structure of the workers and females, one would suppose that they were predaceous on small arthropods... Besides this summary, the behavior of three basicerotine species has been studied. Wilson (1956) observed a small captive colony of Eurhopalothrix biroi, a New Guinea species. Workers moved slowly and captured a variety of small, soft-bodied prey, including spiders, symphylans, entomobryid Collembola, campodeids, and hemipteran nymphs. Wilson and Brown (1984) observed a captive colony of Eurhopalothrix heliscata, a species from Singapore. The colony contained over 400 workers, multiple alate and dealate queens, several adult males, and brood. Foraging workers acted "rather like miniature ferrets," readily wedging themselves into small crevices. They foraged solitarily, attacking a variety of prey but mostly termites. They used their sharply-toothed mandibles to abruptly snap onto appendages of prey, maintaining purchase and slowly reaching around with the gaster to sting the prey. The strongly sclerotized labrum was also employed to press against the clamped appendage. The behavioral repertoire was limited. There did not appear to be trophallaxis, as workers and larvae fed directly from prey in the brood chambers. Nor did there appear to be any form of alarm communication. While there was generally an increase in the number of foragers when clusters of prey were presented, there was no evidence of any pheromone-based recruitment. Workers were non-aggressive and responded to disturbance by tucking the appendages and becoming immobile, often for minutes at a time. Wilson and Hölldobler (1986) studied captive colonies of Basiceros manni from Costa Rica and observed behavior not substantially different from E. heliscata. Foraging workers of many basicerotines are often encrusted with a firmly bonded layer of soil, which is thought to function as camouflage, enhancing crypsis (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1986). Knowledge of the basic natural history of these ants has hardly progressed since the observations of Wilson, Brown, and Hölldobler. More specimens are now available for examination due to quantitative litter sampling, enhancing knowledge of basicerotine diversity and distribution, but discovering nests remains exceedingly difficult. Quantitative samples of 1 m2 litter plots reveals that small basicerotines can be very frequent, occurring in over 50% of samples in some cases, but never in large numbers. Individual samples usually contain fewer than ten workers, and workers are often accompanied by dealate queens. These results suggest that colonies, at least among New World species, are usually small, with tens of workers. Less than half of the species of Octostruma have their queens described. Ergatoid queens are known from some species. Males are known from collections for some species but none have been described. The mating biology of these ants and how common ergatoid queens are across the genus and within colonies is not known. ‎

Castes

Brown & Kempf (1960) reporrted both winged and ergatoid queens.

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Worker. Specimen code casent0178666. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by MIZA, Maracay, Venezuela.

Nomenclature

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

• rugifera. Rhopalothrix rugifer Mayr, 1887: 579 (w.) BRAZIL. Combination in Octostruma: Brown, 1949f: 92. Senior synonym of truncata: Brown & Kempf, 1960: 199.
• truncata. Rhopalothrix (Octostruma) truncata Forel, 1912e: 196 (q.) BRAZIL. Combination in Octostruma: Brown, 1949f: 92. Junior synonym of rugifera: Brown & Kempf, 1960: 199.

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

Description

Worker

Brown and Kempf (1960) - TL 2.0-2.5, HL 0,52-0.63, HW 0.51-0.65 (CI 97-109), WL 0.49-0.60 mm. Based on 18 specimens from at least 10 separate collections from all parts of the known range.

Ergatoid female: TL 2.6, HL 0.65, HW 0.69 (CI 106), WL 0.67 mm.

Queen

Brown and Kempf (1960) - TL 2.9-3.1, HL 0.65-0.67, HW 0.67-0.69 (CI 103-105), WL 0.76-0.80 mm.

Very similar to the corresponding castes of Octostruma balzani, but with a distinct arcuate carina stretched across the vertex between the compound eyes. Also the following minor characters:

1. Pilosity, especially the erect hairs, averaging finer and less abundant than in corresponding castes of balzani. Worker with 4-8 erect hairs on head proper, of which the hair behind each eye and the pair on mid-vertex are perhaps the most constant in presence. Alitrunk and petiole normally without erect hairs, postpetiole with a single median pair; first gastric segment with 8-12 hairs, mostly on posterior half. Female with more abundant erect hairs: 14-18 along transverse cephalic carina, and 4-6 behind this on head; about 16 on mesonotum, 1 pair each all both nodes, 30 or more on first gastric tergite.

2. Propodeal dorsum shorter than in balzani, more steeply sloping, ending in shorter teeth.

3. Gaster very slightly less opaquely sculptured than in balzani, owing to narrow but shining interpunctular spaces.

4. Basal tooth of mandible triangular, with narrow, tapering apex.

Type Material

Longino (2013):

Syntype workers: Brazil, Santa Catarina Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna? (not examined).

Rhopalothrix (Octostruma) truncata Holotype queen: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Corcovado (Dr. Arth. Müller) Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève? (not examined).

References

• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1949h. Revision of the ant tribe Dacetini: IV. Some genera properly excluded from the Dacetini, with the establishment of the Basicerotini new tribe. Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 75: 83-96 (page 92, Combination in Octostruma)
• Brown, W. L., Jr.; Kempf, W. W. 1960. A world revision of the ant tribe Basicerotini. Stud. Entomol. (n.s.) 3: 161-250 (page 199, Senior synonym of truncata)
• Feitosa, R.M., Silva, R.R.da, Aguiar, A.P. 2016. Diurnal flight periodicity of a Neotropical ant assemblage (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Atlantic Forest. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 60, 241–247. (doi:10.1016/j.rbe.2016.05.006).
• Longino, J.T. 2013. A revision of the ant genus Octostruma Forel 1912 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Zootaxa 3699, 1-61. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3699.1.1
• Mayr, G. 1887. Südamerikanische Formiciden. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 37: 511-632 (page 579, worker described)
• Ulysséa, M.A., Brandão, C.R.F. 2013. Ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the seasonally dry tropical forest of northeastern Brazil: a compilation from field surveys in Bahia and literature records. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 57, 217–224 (doi:10.1590/s0085-56262013005000002).

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