.jpg){kind=logo}
Strumigenys praefecta
| Strumigenys praefecta | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Strumigenys |
| Species: | S. praefecta |
| Binomial name | |
| Strumigenys praefecta Bolton, 2000
| |
Strumigenys praefecta may be arboreal, as much of the examined material was collected from under moss on trees, under bark on trees, foraging on tress, and from canopy fogging (Sarnat and Economo 2012).
Identification
Bolton (2000) - A member of the signeae complex in the Strumigenys godeffroyi-group. The larger non-paratypic specimens are also darker in colour than the remainder and tend to have more pairs of hairs on the head and alitrunk. In some the disc of the postpetiole is entirely smooth and there may be 3 pairs of pronotal erect hairs and 2 mesonotal pairs. For the present I am treating all as belonging to a single species but the situation, and relationship of this material to Strumigenys mailei, should be re-assessed when more material is present. See notes under mailei.
Sarnat and Economo (2012) - Strumigenys praefecta is a mid-sized dark reddish brown species with very short antennal scrobes, no humeral hairs, a punctate-reticulate head and mesosoma with a mostly polished smooth mesopleuron and metapleuron, a mostly polished postpetiolar dorsum, and basigastral costae approximately the length of the postpetiole. The species belongs to the signeae group, which is discussed in more detail under the notes for Strumigenys mailei. There are several good nest series from the Nadarivatu area (Viti Levu) in which the workers are consistently larger and redder. The smaller morphotype, which agrees with the type series, occurs very close by in the Monasavu Dam area, in addition to the islands of Koro and Gau. It is interesting that the small morphotype is maintained across a large geographic scale, but that all the close-by Nadarivatu specimens show a consistently larger size and more red coloration.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: -17.3° to -18.08333397°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: AntMaps
Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Fiji (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
Strumigenys praefecta may be arboreal, as much of the examined material was collected from under moss on trees, under bark on trees, foraging on tress, and from canopy fogging.
Castes
Worker
Images from AntWeb
   
| |
| Not Provided. Worker. Specimen code casent0186986. Photographer Eli M. Sarnat, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. | Owned by EMSC. |
Strumigenys.png)
X-ray micro-CT scan 3D model of Strumigenys praefecta (worker) prepared by the Economo lab at OIST.
See on Sketchfab. See list of 3D images.
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- praefecta. Strumigenys praefecta Bolton, 2000: 826 (w.q.) FIJI IS.
Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.
Description
Worker
Holotype. TL 2.6, HL 0.69, HW 0.44, CI 64, ML 0.32, MI 46, SL 0.44, SI 100, PW 0.28-0.32, AL 0.70. Characters of signeae-complex. With head in profile side flattened behind level of eye but scrobe absent. Dorsolateral margin of head with a short simple fine hair in apicoscrobal position and margin posterior to this with 2 projecting short hairs; these hairs directed more dorsally than laterally. Cephalic dorsum with a transverse row of 4-6 erect hairs at occipital margin and with a single pair of standing hairs at or just in front of highest point of vertex. Apical antennomere slender and constricted basally. Pronotal humeral hair absent; pronotal dorsum with 1-2 pairs of short erect hairs, mesonotum with 1 pair. Cephalic dorsum and dorsal alitrunk entirely reticulate-punctate. Side of alitrunk with katepisternum smooth; metapleuron and side of propodeum with at least anterior half smooth and shining. Propodeal teeth acute, free; propodeal declivity carinate, its posterior (free) margin concave and closely paralleling the curve of the declivity. Petiole node reticulate-punctate dorsally. In profile anterior face of node short and oblique, very much shorter than the long, shallowly convex dorsum. Lateral spongiform lobe small, confined to posterolateral portion of node. Disc of postpetiole more or less smooth medially but elsewhere with superficial fine sculpture. First gastral tergite with short stiff simple standing hairs. Basigastral costulae about as long as disc of postpetiole.
Paratypes. TL 2.5-2.6, HL 0.66-0.70, HW 0.42-0.45, CI 64, ML 0.30-0.32, MI 45-46, SL 0.42-0.44, SI 95-100, PW 0.26-0.28, AL 0.65-0.70 (3 measured).
The non-paratypic material averages larger than the type-series. HL 0.71-0.88, HW 0.48-0.57, CI 63-67, ML 0.32-0.37, MI 42-45, SL 0.46-0.50, SI 92-102 (4 measured).
Type Material
Holotype worker, Fiji Is: Viti Levu, Namosi/Queens Rd Divide, 23.vii.1987, QM Berlesate No. 787, 18.05 S, 178.10 E, 500 m., rainforest, litter and moss (G. Monteith) (Australian National Insect Collection).
Paratypes. 3 workers and 1 queen with same data as holotype (ANIC, The Natural History Museum).
- Holotype, worker, Namosi, Queens Rd. Divide, Viti Levu, Fiji, Monteith,G., ANIC32-017800, Australian National Insect Collection.
- Paratype, 2 workers, 1 queen, Namosi, Queens Rd. Divide, Viti Levu, Fiji, Monteith,G., ANIC32-017801, Australian National Insect Collection.
References
- Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. 65:1-1028. (page 826, worker described)
- Liu, C., Sarnat, E.M., Friedman, N.R., Hita Garcia, F., Darwell, C., Booher, D., Kubota, Y., Mikheyev, A.S., Economo, E.P. 2020. Colonize, radiate, decline: Unraveling the dynamics of island community assembly with Fijian trap‐jaw ants. Evolution 74, 1082–1097 (doi:10.1111/EVO.13983).
- Sarnat, E. M. and Economo, E. P. 2012. The ants of Fiji. University of California Publications in Entomology. 132:1-384.
- Sarnat, E.M., Hita-Garcia, F., Dudley, K., Liu, C., Fischer, G., Economo, E.P. 2019. Ready species one: Exploring the use of augmented reality to enhance systematic biology with a revision of Fijian Strumigenys (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insect Systematics and Diversity 3(6): 6; 1–43 (doi:10.1093/isd/ixz005).
References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics
- Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
- CSIRO Collection
- Sarnat Eli M. 2009. The Ants [Hymenoptera: Formicdiae] of Fiji: Systematics, Biogeography and Conservation of an Island Arc Fauna. 80-252
- Ward, Darren F. and James K. Wetterer. 2006. Checklist of the Ants of Fiji. Fiji Arthropods III 85: 23-47.