Strumigenys schulzi

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Strumigenys schulzi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Strumigenys
Species group: schulzi
Species: S. schulzi
Binomial name
Strumigenys schulzi
Emery, 1894

Strumigenys schulzi casent0281996 p 1 high.jpg

Strumigenys schulzi casent0281996 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Synonyms

Dozens of samples of this species have come from wet forest sites with the majority obtained from litter samples.

Identification

Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys schulzi-group. The material examined shows variation between the series in degree of punctation of the mesopleuron, length of propodeal teeth and width of the lamella on the declivity, number of standing hairs both close to the occipital margin and on the mesonotum, size of eye, length of petiolar peduncle and degree of impression of the metanotal groove. It is presently impossible to say how many genuine species are represented here as the total amount of material available for examination is so scanty. For the present I have decided to include all the material under a single name, with the diagnosis given above, until the time that a more detailed analysis can be made.

Within the schulzi-group six species have a pronotal humeral hair present: Strumigenys castanea, Strumigenys metrix, Strumigenys orchibia, schulzi, Strumigenys urrhobia and Strumigenys emiliae. Of these urrhobia and emiliae have very derived and specialised dentition, relatively small eyes with 10 or fewer ommatidia in total, slender scapes that are over 4.5 X longer than broad and a postpetiole disc that is not entirely blanketed with reticulate-punctate sculpture. By comparison the other four together have more generalised dentition (see above), much larger eyes with at least 20 ommatidia in total, broad flattened scapes that are less than 4.0 X longer than broad and a postpetiole disc that is entirely coarsely reticulate-punctate.

Of the four species metrix is much darker in colour than schulzi, being dark brown with a blackish-brown gaster, and its mesonotal standing hairs are very short and stubbly, indistinct and not much longer than the ground-pilosity. S. schulzi on the other hand is uniformly yellow to brownish yellow and its mesonotal standing hairs are longer and very distinctly differentiated from the sparse ground-pilosity. S. orchibia is a larger species than schulzi, with only a single pair of mesonotal erect hairs and much longer, finer and denser basigastral costulae. The separation of castanea from schulzi rests, rather uneasily, on the character given in the key. The two are extremely close and may be synonymous, but more material is needed for analysis before a definite statement can be made.

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); face punctate; 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; sides of posterior half of mesosoma completely and densely punctulate; ventral petiolar spongiform appendages entirely obsolete; disc of postpetiole reticulate-punctate; gaster with more than 10 erect, somewhat spoon-shaped setae; propodeal teeth broad at base and continuous with infradental lamellae; cephalic vertex with transverse row of 4 - 6 suberect hairs just behind the highest point, these hairs distinctly differentiated from the ground-pilosity; each pronotal humerus with single stout projecting hair.

Santos-Neto et al. (2024) - Basal lamella of mandible triangular, without diastema between it and masticatory margin; eyes large, with 20 or more ommatidia in total; strongly dorsoventrally compressed scapes; pronotal humeral and apicoscrobal setae short and stout hair; pilosity narrowly remiform, ground pilosity of spatulate hairs; petiole and postpetiole entirely reticulate-punctate in dorsal view, with basigastral costulae shorter than a third of postpetiole disc length.

The examined specimens from different localities, including the type material (material from AntWeb), showed variation. The main differences observed were in specimens collected in the Atlantic Forest of Southern Bahia, Brazil, in the municipality of Una, which have a significant portion of the lower mesopleuron smooth (Figure 3B), thicker and apically slightly remiform gaster pilosity (Figure 4B), differences in pilosity on the cephalic dorsum (Figure 4A) and slightly shorter petiolar node in lateral view (Figure 4B). The specimen, compared to the type, is more similar to the other examined material and has a sculptures lower mesopleuron, slightly thinner gastral pilosity, cephalic pilosity thicker (Figure 4D) and longer petiolar node in lateral view.

Although a reasonable number of specimens have been collected since Bolton’s (2000) revision and mainly since Brown’s (1953) work, it remains hard to decide whether Strumigenys schulzi is a complex of various cryptic species or a single species that shows variation across its wide distribution. This challenge arises because, despite being a widely distributed and extensively collected species, the samples consist primarily of single individuals, making it difficult to study possible intra-populational variations.

  • Santos-Neto et al. (2024), Fig. 4. Strumigenys schulzi specimens; head in full face view(A), Lateral view (B), specimen collected in Una, Bahia, Brazil. Head in full-face view (C), Lateral view (D), specimen collected in Trinidad. [CASENT0281996]. Scale bars are 0.2 mm.. Available at AntWeb.org.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 19.5166667° to -25.31416667°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Barbados, Belize, Brazil (type locality), Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, 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.
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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

Longino (Ants of Costa Rica) - The types from Brazil were from under tree bark (Brown 1953). Material from Finca Monte Libano, Ocosingo Valley, Chiapas, Mexico was found by sweeping vegetation. A dealate queen from Pueblo Nuevo, near Tetzonapa, Veracruz, Mexico was in rain forest, under bark of large (2m diameter) rotten log with wood still hard (Brown 1964). A worker I collected in Braulio Carrillo National Park was a nocturnal forager on the ground. The species has not occurred in numerous samples of sifted litter that I and others have taken from forest floor habitats. These observations suggest that this species nests and forages in the low arboreal zone, just above the soil/litter layer.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Strumigenys schulzi casent0904958 h 1 high.jpgStrumigenys schulzi casent0904958 p 1 high.jpgStrumigenys schulzi casent0904958 d 1 high.jpgStrumigenys schulzi casent0904958 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Strumigenys schulzi. Worker. Specimen code casent0904958. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

  • schulzi. Strumigenys schulzi Emery, 1894c: 213, pl. 1, fig. 7 (w.) BRAZIL. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1955a: 144 (l.). Combination in S. (Cephaloxys): Emery, 1924d: 325; in Smithistruma: Brown, 1953g: 108; in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673; in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 127. Senior synonym of studiosi: Bolton, 2000: 225.
  • studiosi. Strumigenys (Cephaloxys) studiosi Weber, 1934a: 44, fig. 5 (w.) COSTA RICA. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1955a: 144 (l.). Combination in Smithistruma: Brown, 1953g: 104; in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673. Junior synonym of schulzi: Bolton, 2000: 225.

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 1.8-1.9, HL 0.50-0.55, HW 0.37-0.42, CI 74-77, ML 0.07-0.10, MI 14-18, SL 0.21-0.25, SI 56-59, PW 0.26-0.27, AL 0.50-0.56 (7 measured).

Anterior clypeal margin approximately transverse, in various specimens may appear extremely feebly convex or extremely feebly concave. Eye large, with 5-6 ommatidia in the longest row and with 20 or more ommatidia in total. Dentition as discussed in introduction to group. Scape strongly dorsoventrally compressed and wide, in dorsal view only 3.2-3.6 X longer than broad; broadest point of scape distinctly proximal of its midlength. Apicoscrobal hair short and stout, anteriorly curved; a similar hair may occur on the margin at level of eye. In profile dorsum of head between highest point of vertex and occipital margin with a transverse row of 4 - 6 anteriorly curved short hairs that are distinctly longer and more erect than the spatulate ground-pilosity. Pronotal humeral hair stout, truncated to weakly clavate apically. Mesonotal dorsum with 2-3 pairs of short stout standing hairs; similar hairs are also present on waist segments and first gastral tergite. Dorsum and side of alitrunk entirely reticulate-punctate or with a more weakly sculptured to smooth area on the katepistemum. Petiole and postpetiole reticulate-punctate dorsally, the former broader than long in dorsal view and without trace of a ventral spongiform strip. Basigastral costulae sharply defined and extending over the basal one-fifth to one-quarter of the tergite, spaces between costulae usually finely shagreenate to minutely striolate.

Type Material

Bolton (2000) - Syntype workers, BRAZIL: Para, 23/3 .93, No. 166 (A. Schulz) (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa) [examined].

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Basset Y., L. Cizek, P. Cuenoud, R. K. Didham, F. Guilhaumon, O. Missa, V. Novotny, F. Odegaards, T. Roslin, J. Schmidl et al. 2012. Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest. Science 338(6113): 1481-1484.
  • Bezdeckova K., P. Bedecka, and I. Machar. 2015. A checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Peru. Zootaxa 4020 (1): 101–133.
  • Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • Del Toro, I., M. Vázquez, W.P. Mackay, P. Rojas and R. Zapata-Mata. Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Tabasco: explorando la diversidad de la mirmecofauna en las selvas tropicales de baja altitud. Dugesiana 16(1):1-14.
  • Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Franco W., N. Ladino, J. H. C. Delabie, A. Dejean, J. Orivel, M. Fichaux, S. Groc, M. Leponce, and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674(5): 509-543.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Honduras. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-honduras
  • Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Nicargua. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-nicaragua
  • 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. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.
  • Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
  • Maes, J.-M. and W.P. MacKay. 1993. Catalogo de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Nicaragua. Revista Nicaraguense de Entomologia 23.
  • Marinho C. G. S., R. Zanetti, J. H. C. Delabie, M. N. Schlindwein, and L. de S. Ramos. 2002. Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Diversity in Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) Plantations and Cerrado Litter in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Neotropical Entomology 31(2): 187-195.
  • Ramos L. S., R. Z. B. Filho, J. H. C. Delabie, S. Lacau, M. F. S. dos Santos, I. C. do Nascimento, and C. G. S. Marinho. 2003. Ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the leaf-litter in cerrado “stricto sensu” areas in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Lundiana 4(2): 95-102.
  • Ramos L. de S., C. G. S. Marinho, R. Zanetti, and J. H. C. Delabie. 2003. Impacto de iscas formicidas granuladas sobre a mirmecofauna não-alvo em eucaliptais segundo duas formas de aplicacação / Impact of formicid granulated baits on non-target ants in eucalyptus plantations according to two forms of application. Neotropical Entomology 32(2): 231-237.
  • Ramos L. de S., R. Zanetti, C. G. S. Marinho, J. H. C. Delabie, M. N. Schlindwein, and R. P. Almado. 2004. Impact of mechanical and chemical weedings of Eucalyptus grandis undergrowth on an ant community (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Rev. Árvore 28(1): 139-146.
  • Rojas Fernandez P. 2010. Capítulo 24. Hormigas (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae). In: Diversidad Biológica de Veracruz. Volumen Invertebrados. CONABIO-Gobierno del Estado de Veracruz.
  • 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.
  • Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
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