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Strumigenys flavianae
| Strumigenys flavianae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Strumigenys |
| Species group: | flavianae |
| Species: | S. flavianae |
| Binomial name | |
| Strumigenys flavianae Chaul, 2023
| |
Nothing is known about the biology of living colonies of S. flavianae; however, its slender body and legs suggest that it forages on the upper stratum of the litter or maybe within cavities inside rotten logs rather than amidst the deeper and denser litter and soil stratum. It has been found three times in secondary growth forest remnants, once in a pitfall trap (specific forest remnant not determined on label) and twice by winkler extractors (both in “Mata do Paraíso” forest remnant). Despite years of sampling in the region, the species is still rare. It might be the case that its populations are low in the most often sampled remnant, Mata do Paraíso (most sampling efforts throughout the years have been undertaken there).
Identification
Differing from all other Strumigenys by the combination of:
- a slender body and long legs
- pilosity composed of subflagellate, flagellate, or wire-like setae
- basal lamella of mandible triangular, entirely covered by anterior clypeal margin when mandible is closed, and without diastemmic gap between it and the basal tooth of the masticatory margin
- mandible outer margin confluent with clypeal lateral margin, not bulging
- spongiform tissue ventrally on the petiole, notched at about its midlength
- sides of mesosoma mostly sculptured, with only a small smooth patch in between upper mesopleuron and upper metapleuron
This species stands out among all Strumigenys species occurring in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest for its slenderness (long head, slender mesosoma and petiole and long legs) and wire-like pilosity. In this biome, species with short mandibles (either gripping or short trap-jaw mechanisms) are never too slender and never have the same type of pilosity. Some species of long trap-jaw mandibles in the mandibularis group are as slender as S. flavianae, but in that case, they cannot be confused with the newly discovered species because of their conspicuous linear mandibles (and also due to the lack of wire-like pilosity). A few species in the probatrix- and hyphata-groups, mostly Amazonian, are similar to S. flavianae; the ones in the probatrix-group are even more slender; however, due to other traits, they also cannot be confused with S. flavianae.
Distribution
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -20.8° to -20.8°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: Chaul, 2023
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Brazil (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. |
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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. |
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Biology
Castes
Worker
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- flavianae. Strumigenys flavianae Chaul, 2023: 225, figs. 1-3 (w.) BRAZIL (Minas Gerais).
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Worker
HW 0.42–0.43, ML 0.08, ML2 0.18–0.21, HL 0.81–0.84, SL 0.39–0.4, ON 12, HD 0.28–0.31, WL 0.83–0.85, PetL 0.45–0.46, A3+A4L 0.72–0.8, PrW 0.29–0.305, DpetW 0.14–0.155, DPetndL 0.2–0.23, PosPetW 0.25–0.27, GW 0.5–0.53, MtfrL 0.635–0.68, MttbL 0.44–0.47, MtbtL 0.48–0.52, TL 3.02–3.16, LegL 1.55–1.67, CI 51.19–51.85, SI 92.86–93.02, MI 9.7, LegI 51.15–52.85 (n = 3).
Head: head elongate. In full-face view, mandibles small, elongate triangular, its dorsal surfaces smooth, covered with small, simple, appressed hairs. Outer margins of mandibles confluent with lateral clypeal margins. Basal lamellae of mandibles triangular, its basal side slightly tilted dorsally. Masticatory margin with 12 teeth, the first originating without a diastemmic gap between it and the basal lamella. The 6 basal teeth are large and acute, growing in size until tooth 3 (the largest on the mandible) and then becoming gradually smaller until tooth 6. Tooth 7 is even smaller than 6, and can be triangular or truncate. Teeth 8 to 11 are small and truncate, and tooth 12, the apical, is slightly larger than the previous, and triangular (but still smaller and less acute than the basal 7 teeth). Tips of mandibles downcurved, so that the row of small truncated teeth are best seen with the head in anterodorsal view. Basiventral glands on mandibles not visible. Basal half of labrum (excluding the apical lobes) with margins diverging and converging back, and then mildly convex along the second half of the labrum body. Lobes short and thick, about a quarter the length of the labrum disc, converging slightly towards each other and separated by a wide notch. Each lobe has three simple hairs and a longer, flattened and sinuous seta arising from the apex. Clypeus longer than wide, reticulate punctate, its anterior margin projected strongly convex over mandibles and covering basal lamellae of mandibles. Antennae 6-segmented. Scape apicoventral gland present. Scape covered with appressed fine hairs and a row of freely projecting long, curved to coiled and wire-like setae on its anterior margin, most of them not obviously curved basally or apically. Apical and preapical antennomeres, taken together, slightly longer than scape; preapical antennomere as thick as apical, not swollen. Dorsal head reticulate punctuate with superimposed fainting rugulae, and ground pilosity composed of simple, irregularly coiled to subflagellate hairs. A pair of long, wire-like to flagellate apicoscrobal setae. Vertexal standing setae are absent, although ground pilosity are somewhat longer posteriorly on the head. In lateral view, scrobe not conspicuously deep, its dorsal margin well-marked, apically and ventrally poorly marked; ventral margin fades anterior to the eye level without reaching the anterior end of the head; in full-face view, dorsal margin of scrobe forms a thin translucent cuticular projection. Compound eyes with about 12 ommatidia, not seen in full-face view. Preocular carina ends much anterior than the level of the eyes in profile.
Mesosoma:slender and elongate. Dorsally, promesonotal suture a feeble ridge. Pronotum reticulate punctate with superimposed fainting rugulae, mesonotum reticulate punctate. Metanotal impression, a shallow groove, anteriorly marked by thin feeble traversal carina and with a short median longitudinal carina across it. Dorsum of propodeum, mesopleura, metapleura and lateral propodeum reticulate punctate, with only a small smooth patch in between upper mesopleuron and upper metapleuron. A pair of thin triangular lamellate projections laterally on mesonotum, on top of mesothoracic spiracles, directed laterally and upwards. Humeral pair of long, wire-like setae arising from a pair of small indented protrusions. Similar, but slightly smaller and thinner, setae are also present anterolaterally on the pronotum posterior to the humeral pair, anterolaterally on the mesonotum, and mediolaterally on the mesonotum (arising from the tip of the mesonotal lamellate projections). Ground pilosity on dorsum of mesosoma, as on the head, composed of thin, long subflagellate hairs. Propodeal teeth sharp and long, in profile posteriorly and slightly dorsally inclined, subtended by a thin propodeal lamella which descends with regular width until the level of the metapleural gland reservoir, where the lamella forms a small round lobe. Mesothoracic ventral excavation not densely hairy. In lateral view, anterior margin of mesopleuron with a translucid lamella, which is lobate on the upper section, pointing towards the mesothoracic excavation. Leg elongate, reticulate, covered in hairs similar to the head and mesosomal ground pilosity. All pairs of legs with tiny, rounded to oval, apicodorsal femoral glands; hind femur with the largest and middle femur with the smallest. Slit-shaped, well developed apicodorsal glands on hind and middle tibiae, and tiny oval gland on protibia. Among the tarsomeres, those with visible glands are probasitarsus, mesobasitarsus and mesotarsomeres 2, and metabasitarsus and metatarsomeres 2 and 3. Metasoma: petiole elongate, node longer than high, evenly and gently curved in profile view. The anterior face of node gradually ascending from peduncle and merging into dorsal faces, these faces not obviously distinguishable. Postpetiole disc with longitudinal rugae which are well-marked laterally and shallow to fainting medially. Spongiform tissue strongly developed ventrally on the petiole as a thin and tall curtain, notched at about its midlength. Posterior edge of node of petiole with a thin strip of spongiform tissue connecting two pyramidal spongiform posterolateral lobes. Spongiform tissue well developed ventrally on postpetioles, with two large and dense lateral outgrowths linked in the middle by a thinner strip. Postpetiole disc with a thin, transversal, spongiform anterior strip and large spongiform lobes posterolaterally, which gradually becomes thinner where they link posteromedially. Well-developed spongiform transverse strip anteriorly on first gastral tergite. Basigastral ventral patch of specialized setae reduced. Dorsum of metasoma covered in long, wire-like to flagellate hairs. Gaster smooth and shiny. Gastral sternites as well as dorsally around the sting with thin, curved and simple hairs. Basigastral costulae well-marked but small, about half the length of postpetiole disc.
Type Material
- Holotype worker. BRAZIL, Minas Gerais, Viçosa, Mata do Paraíso, -20.803959 -42.855107, 13.ii.2017, Berlesate (Borlini, P.) (CELC, unique specimen identifier: ANTWEB1032460).
- Paratype workers: BRAZIL, Minas Gerais, Viçosa, Fragmento Florestal, 1994 (Sperber, Lopes and Louzada) (CELC, unique specimen identifier: ANTWEB1032112); BRAZIL, Minas Gerais, Viçosa, Mata do Paraíso, -20.803146 -42.856782, 21.viii.2017, winkler sample (Moura, M. N.; Micolino, R.) (CELC, unique specimen identifier: ANTWEB1032422).
Etymology
The specific epithet honors the late Flaviana Heloisa da Silva Caetano, a young Brazilian undergraduate student from the Universidade Federal de Viçosa, whose untimely death during the COVID-19 pandemic saddened all her colleagues in the biology course. The name was created by adding the singular Latin genitive case suffix -ae to the first name of a female person. The orthography of an eponym is unchangeable and does not depend on the generic name for which the epithet is used.