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Strumigenys inquilina
| Strumigenys inquilina | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Strumigenys |
| Species: | S. inquilina |
| Binomial name | |
| Strumigenys inquilina (Bolton, 1983)
| |
This inquiline is known from a type series of queens collected from nests of Strumigenys lujae.
| At a Glance | • Inquiline |
Identification
A member of the Strumigenys lujae-group.
Bolton (1983) - This series of females, found in a nest of the common Strumigenys lujae, constitutes the first known socially parasitic dacetine in the Afrotropical region. It is easily distinguished from the female of the host-species, as follows.
| inquilina | lujae |
| Scrobes vestigial, upper scrobe margins not sharply defined behind level of anterior margin of eye. | Scrobes present, upper scrobe margin sharply defined to beyond level of posterior margin of eye. |
| Head without laterally projecting long fine hairs on upper scrobe margins; without specialized standing hairs on cephalic dorsum. | Head with laterally projecting long fine hairs on upper scrobe margins; with specialized standing hairs on cephalic dorsum. |
| Alitrunk and first gastral tergite with fine soft curved hairs only, without standing hairs. | Alitrunk and first gastral tergite without fine soft curved hairs, with standing hairs. |
| Pronotal humeri without flagellate hairs. | Pronotal humeri with flagellate hairs. |
| Propodeum unarmed. | Propodeum bidentate. |
| Basigastral costulae absent. | Basigastral costulae present. |
| Petiole node in dorsal view as long as or slightly longer than broad, smooth, lacking a transverse spongiform strip posteriorly. | Petiole node in dorsal view broader than long, punctate, with a transverse spongiform strip posteriorly. |
| Scapes long, SI > 100 | Scapes short, SI <100. |
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Democratic Republic of Congo (type locality), Gabon.
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
Images from AntWeb
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| Holotype of Serrastruma inquilina. Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code castype14102. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA. |
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- inquilina. Serrastruma inquilina Bolton, 1983: 342 (q.) DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. Combination in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673; in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 121. See also: Bolton, 2000: 314.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Queen
Holotype. TL 3.0, HL 0.65, HW 0.48, CI 74, ML 0.22, MI 34, SL 0.52, SI 108, PW 0.48, AL 0.80.
Mandibular denticles very gradually increasing in size towards base. Antennal scrobes vestigial, the upper scrobe margins not differentiated behind the level of the anterior margin of the eye; behind this point the dorsum of the head rounding into the sides. Flagellate hairs absent from the head. Clypeus glassy smooth, dorsum of head finely and densely punctate, the punctures superficial and the surface shining. Pilosity of head consisting entirely of fine simple curved hairs which are directed anteriorly except in the vicinity of the ocelli where they are directed approximately towards the mid-dorsal point. Dorsum of head without elongate standing specialized hairs. With the alitrunk in profile the propodeum unarmed, without trace of teeth. Sides of pronotum densely reticulate-punctate, the lateral portions of the mesoscutum, above the pronotum, more finely punctulate. Mesopleuron smooth except for the strip immediately below the wing insertion which is punctate. Metapleuron punctate in the upper half, smooth below. Sides of propodeum densely reticulate-punctate. Mesoscutum with a broad central smooth area but the periphery of the sclerite tending to be punctulate. Scutellum weakly punctulate, the propodeum densely reticulate-punctate. With the pedicel segments in profile spongiform appendages are absent from the petiole and very reduced on the postpetiole where they are represented only by a small lateral and ventral lobe. In dorsal view the petiole node smooth, as long as broad and lacking a transverse lamellar or spongiform strip posteriorly. Postpetiole slightly broader than long, smooth, and having a narrow lamellate strip traversing the posterior margin. First gastral tergite smooth, without trace of basal costulae. Pilosity everywhere on dorsal surfaces of alitrunk, petiole, postpetiole and gaster consisting of quite dense fine simple soft curved hairs which are subdecumbent to decumbent, pointed apically and directed approximately towards the midline on the alitrunk and posteriorly on the pedicel segments and the gaster; without long flagellate or any other specialized hairs. Colour yellow.
Paratype. TL 2.9-3.1, HL 0.64-0.68, HW 0.46-0.48, CI 71-74, ML 0.20·22, MI 30-34, SL 0.50-0.52, SI 108-113, PW 0.46-0.48, AL 0.78-0.85 (7 measured).
As holotype, the petiole node in dorsal view may be fractionally longer than broad.
Type Material
Holotype female (alate), Zaire ('B. Congo' on data label): S. slope of Mt Kahuzi, 1900 m, 5.ix.1957, in nest of Serrastruma lujae (Forel) (E. S. Ross & R. E. Leech) (California Academy of Sciences).
Paratypes. 7 females with same data as holotype (CASC; Museum of Comparative Zoology; The Natural History Museum).
References
- Baroni Urbani, C. & De Andrade, M.L. 2007. The ant tribe Dacetini: limits and constituent genera, with descriptions of new species. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “G. Doria” 99: 1-191.
- Bolton, B. 1983. The Afrotropical dacetine ants (Formicidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 46:267-416. (page 342, queen described)
- Bolton, B. 1999. Ant genera of the tribe Dacetonini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Natural History. 33:1639-1689.
- Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. 65:1-1028. (page 314, redescription of worker)
- Booher, D.B. 2021. The ant genus Strumigenys Smith, 1860 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in western North America north of Mexico. Zootaxa 5061, 201–248 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5061.2.1).