Strumigenys fridericimuelleri

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Strumigenys fridericimuelleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Strumigenys
Species: S. fridericimuelleri
Binomial name
Strumigenys fridericimuelleri
Forel, 1886

Pyramica fridericimuelleri casent0178119 profile 1.jpg

Pyramica fridericimuelleri casent0178119 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

In Costa Rica, this species occurs in wet forest habitats. One small colony was collected in Braulio Carrillo National Park. It was in a rotten stump at the forest edge. (Longino, Ants of Costa Rica)

Identification

Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys alberti-group.

Longino (Ants of Costa Rica) - Mandibles in side view straight, not broadly curved ventrally; mandibles relatively short, subtriangular, much of the apical portion meeting along a serially toothed masticatory margin when closed (former Smithistruma); leading edge of scape with a row of conspicuous projecting curved hairs, of which those distal to the subbasal bend distinctly curve toward the base of the scape; pronotal humeral hair present; ventral surface of petiole in profile with a deep, conspicuous and very obviously spongiform curtain, its maximum depth at least half that of the peduncle and usually more; disc of postpetiole completely unsculptured and glassy smooth; anterior border of clypeus broadly rounded; basal lamella of mandible immediately followed distally by the tooth-row, without a second lamella that extends forward for half the exposed length of the fully closed mandible; mandibles short, MI 19-24; eye with ten or more ommatidia in total; promesonotal dorsum with a fine median longitudinal carina through most or all of its length; pronotal dorsum partially to mostly sculptured; propodeal dorsum weakly to strongly reticulate-punctate; in full-face view anterior clypeal margin transverse to extremely shallowly convex between points where outer margins of fully closed mandibles intersect the clypeal margin; basal tooth-row of mandible consisting only of narrowly triangular high acute teeth; disc of petiole node in dorsal view as long as broad and with the sides of the node converging anteriorly.

Carara specimens are larger, darker, and with longer propodeal spines than Atlantic slope specimens. I predict this will be a consistent difference between Pacific slope and Atlantic slope material, following a trend of diagnostically distinct forms on the two sides of Costa Rica (pers. obs.).

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 18.899297° to -26.918°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

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

Explore-icon.png Explore Overview of Strumigenys biology 
Strumigenys were once thought to be rare. The development and increased use of litter sampling methods has led to the discovery of a tremendous diversity of species. Many species are specialized predators (e.g. see Strumigenys membranifera and Strumigenys louisianae). Collembola (springtails) and other tiny soil arthropods are typically favored prey. Species with long linear mandibles employ trap-jaws to sieze their stalked prey (see Dacetine trap-jaws). Larvae feed directly on insect prey brought to them by workers. Trophallaxis is rarely practiced. Most species live in the soil, leaf litter, decaying wood or opportunistically move into inhabitable cavities on or under the soil. Colonies are small, typically less than 100 individuals but in some species many hundreds. Moist warm habitats and micro-habitats are preferred. A few better known tramp and otherwise widely ranging species tolerate drier conditions. Foraging is often in the leaf litter and humus. Workers of many species rarely venture above ground or into exposed, open areas. Individuals are typically small, slow moving and cryptic in coloration. When disturbed individuals freeze and remain motionless. Males are not known for a large majority of species.

‎

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • fridericimuelleri. Strumigenys fridericimuelleri Forel, 1886a: 213 (w.) BRAZIL. Combination in S. (Cephaloxys): Emery, 1924d: 325; in Smithistruma: Brown, 1953g: 98; in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673; in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 120. See also: Bolton, 2000: 155.

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

Description

Worker

Bolton (2000) - TL 1.8-2.2, HL 0.50-0.56, HW 0.35-0.39, CI 68-73, ML 0.08-0.11, MI 16-21, 0.25-0.28, SI 69-74, PW 0.24-0.28, AL 0.50-0.72 (20 measured). Masticatory margin of mandible with a basal series of 5 narrow acutely triangular teeth that immediately follow the basal lamella. Distal of these are two smaller but similarly shaped teeth; no long secondary lamella, no alternation of high acute and low rounded teeth. Anterior clypeal margin broadly and very shallowly convex between the points where the outer margins of the closed mandibles intersect the clypeal margin, sometimes almost transverse. Apicoscrobal hair flagellate, long and fine, sometimes looped. Eye with 4 - 5 ommatidia in the longest row. Promesonotum with a variably developed median longitudinal carina. At maximum the carina distinct through entire length of pronotum and most of mesonotum; at minimum conspicuous only posteriorly on pronotum and anteriorly on mesonotum. Dorsum of pronotum partially to mostly smooth, with fine costulate or punctate sculpture, or both, at least posteriorly and dorsolaterally. Petiole node in dorsal view about as broad as long to slightly broader than long, the sides diverging posteriorly. Lateral spongiform lobes of node extending forward almost to the anterolateral angles.

Type Material

Bolton (2000) - Syntype workers, BRAZIL: Itajahy (w. Muller) Museum of Comparative Zoology, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna (examined).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
  • Brown W. L., Jr. 1953. Revisionary studies in the ant tribe Dacetini. Am. Midl. Nat. 50: 1-137.
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Galkowski C. 2016. New data on the ants from the Guadeloupe (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Bull. Soc. Linn. Bordeaux 151, 44(1): 25-36.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Longino J. T. L., and M. G. Branstetter. 2018. The truncated bell: an enigmatic but pervasive elevational diversity pattern in Middle American ants. Ecography 41: 1-12.
  • Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
  • Rosa da Silva R. 1999. Formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) do oeste de Santa Catarina: historico das coletas e lista atualizada das especies do Estado de Santa Catarina. Biotemas 12(2): 75-100.
  • Silva R.R., and C. R. F. Brandao. 2014. Ecosystem-Wide Morphological Structure of Leaf-Litter Ant Communities along a Tropical Latitudinal Gradient. PLoSONE 9(3): e93049. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093049
  • Silva T. S. R., and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. Using controlled vocabularies in anatomical terminology: A case study with Strumigenys (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arthropod Structure and Development 52: 1-26.
  • Sosa-Calvo J., S. O. Shattuck, and T. R. Schultz. 2006. Dacetine ants of Panama: new records and description of a new species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 108: 814-821.
  • Ulyssea M. A., C. R. F. Brandao. 2013. Catalogue of Dacetini and Solenopsidini ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. Papies Avulsos de Zoologia 53(14): 187-209.
  • Wild, A. L. "A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Zootaxa 1622 (2007): 1-55.
Retrieved from "https://antwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Strumigenys_fridericimuelleri&oldid=681252"