Strumigenys talpa

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Strumigenys talpa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Strumigenys
Species group: talpa
Species: S. talpa
Binomial name
Strumigenys talpa
Weber, 1934

Pyramica talpa casent0103123 profile 1.jpg

Pyramica talpa casent0103123 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen Label

Synonyms

This species is among the most commonly collected Nearctic species. It occurs from Florida to Washington, D.C., and extends west to Oklahoma and Texas (Brown 1950). Strumigenys talpa tolerates a wide variety of mesic to dry habitats and is less common in wet habitats (Deyrup 2016). Unlike the wide-ranging species Strumigenys missouriensis, Strumigenys talpa exhibits little morphological variation across its range. However, there appears to be a smooth morphological transition over geographic space between S. talpa and Strumigenys deyrupi (a junior synonym of S. talpa). Setae on the anterior margin of the scape are typically directed towards the apex of the scape in S. talpa but some setae are directed towards the base of the scape in specimens collected in Florida from where S. deyrupi was described. Mark Deyrup (for whom S. deyrupi was named), has also come to this realization and we believe S. deyrupi to either be the same species or to hybridize heavily where their ranges overlap (southern half of Georgia into Florida). I have not observed scape setae variation anywhere else across the range of S. talpa except in specimens from Texas and there is no evidence of discrete forms in sympatry. All other setae characters of the Texas specimens are congruent with S. talpa. Texas specimens all have flagellate setae on their mesosoma, pronotal shoulders, abdominal tergites, and femur/tibia. Also unusual are the Oklahoma workers that lack elongate apicoscrobal setae. This character is uniformly present in all other collections across S. talpa’s range that I have examined including those from Texas. Although these setae could have been abraded, this is unlikely as the specimens examined were in excellent shape and had no missing or broken flagellate setae on other portions of the body. I expect the Oklahoma specimens represent a new species but am grouping them with S. talpa until more specimens are found and S. talpa is examined across its range. (Booher, 2021)

Identification

Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys talpa-group. As Brown (l953a) has pointed out, the three older species currently placed in this group are very closely related, and best separated by differences in their clypeal pilosity. Strumigenys wrayi has hairs on the anterior clypeal margin that curve away from the midline and spoon-shaped hairs on the lateral margins that are weakly reflexed; hairs on the clypeal dorsum are inclined posteriorly. Clypeal hairs with these orientations are absent from Strumigenys filitalpa and talpa. In particular the fringe of hairs on the lateral margins curves anteriorly; those of talpa being decidedly spatulate or weakly spoon-shaped whilst those of filitalpa are slender and filiform. Neither has posteriorly inclined hairs on the clypeal dorsum.

Pyramica deyrupi

Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys pulchella-group. In addition to the comparative features noted under Strumigenys creightoni, Strumigenys deyrupi differs from Strumigenys metazytes as the latter has distinctly smaller and narrower spongiform lobes on the waist segments. As well as the character noted in the key, the petiole of metazytes in profile has the maximum length of the lateral lobe less than half the length of the node; in deyrupi this lobe is distinctly greater than half the node length. The size difference in clypeal pilosity between the hairs located mid-dorsally and those that fringe the lateral margins is obviously different in deyrupi and Strumigenys abdita, and easily discerned even under low magnification.

P. deyrupi bears a striking resemblance to Strumigenys talpa, but in the latter species all the hairs on the leading edge of the scape are curved toward the scape apex.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

USA; in eastern USA from Florida to New Jersey and west to Missouri; in western USA occurs in Oklahoma and Texas (Booher, 2021).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 39.991° to 27.18333333°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).

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

Wesson and Wesson (1939) from their description of the synonymized S. venatrix: described from a colony containing about 60 workers. Eight colonies and occasional scattered workers have been taken in Pike, Lawrence, Scioto and Adams Counties. The species is definitely a soil or humus dweller and forages for Collembola under the leaves and dead vegetable matter on the surface of the ground. So far as we can tell, it is not associated with other species for the purpose of obtaining the Collembola about their nest. Specific examples of the colonies may give a better idea of the habitus. A colony was found in a small opening near the edge of some young oak woods on a rather dry, gently-sloping hillside. The soil was a sandy clay. Several workers were first observed around a light cover of dead leaves. One of these, carrying a springtail in its mandibles, led to the nest, the entrance of which, was a tiny hole under a flake of stone in the middle of a small bare area 30 sq. cm. in extent. Just below the surface, this hole widened out into a spacious, elongate chamber 5 to 10 mm. in diameter and 10 cm. in length, which appeared to be the hollow interior of a dead and decayed root. Another colony was found in the grassy humus on the edge of a bushy thicket in a field. A colony of Aphaenogaster fulva was under an adjacent stone. Four colonies, including the type, were found in a grassy clearing in some dry, open woods. Two of these colonies were on the surface in the tangled roots of the grass, while the other 2 were in the soil 2 to 8 cm. below the surface. Galleries of Camponotus americanus ran close to one nest, but we were unable to find any connection between the two. Two colonies were 2ound in the cedar thicket described above under Strumigenys missouriensis. One of these was nesting in an opening at the bottom of the humus, the other in a small cavity at the base of an old rotted cedar stump. Stray workers in these and other places were often found by pulling back the top cover of the humus in places where springtails were abundant.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Pyramica talpa casent0102557 head 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0102557 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0102557 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0102557. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.
Pyramica talpa casent0103123 profile 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0103123 head 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0103123 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0103123 label 1.jpg
Paratype of Strumigenys venatrix. Worker. Specimen code casent0103123. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by USNM, Washington, DC, USA.
Pyramica talpa casent0104490 head 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104490 profile 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104490 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0104490. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.
Pyramica deyrupi casent0103172 head 1.jpgPyramica deyrupi casent0103172 profile 1.jpgPyramica deyrupi casent0103172 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica deyrupi casent0103172 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0103172. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Pyramica talpa casent0104488 head 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104488 profile 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104488 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104488 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0104488. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Pyramica talpa casent0104489 head 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104489 profile 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104489 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0104489 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0104489. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.
Pyramica talpa casent0103124 head 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0103124 profile 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0103124 profile 2.jpgPyramica talpa casent0103124 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica talpa casent0103124 label 1.jpg
Paratype of Strumigenys venatrix. Male (alate). Specimen code casent0103124. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by USNM, Washington, DC, USA.

Nomenclature

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

  • talpa. Strumigenys (Cephaloxys) talpa Weber, 1934b: 63, fig. 1 (w.) U.S.A. Brown, 1953g: 77 (q.m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1955a: 141 (l.). Combination in S. (Trichoscapa): Smith, M.R., 1947f: 587; Creighton, 1950a: 310; in Smithistruma: Smith, M.R., 1951a: 828; Brown, 1953g: 76; in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673; in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 128. Senior synonym of venatrix: Wesson, 1949: 21. See also: Wilson, 1954: 486; Bolton, 2000: 132.
  • deyrupi. Pyramica deyrupi Bolton, 2000: 119 (w.) U.S.A.
    • Combination in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 118.
    • Status as species: Deyrup, 2003: 46.
    • Junior synonym of talpa: Deyrup, 2017: 140.
  • venatrix. Strumigenys (Cephaloxys) venatrix Wesson, L.G. & Wesson, R.G., 1939: 103, pl. 3, fig. 5 (w.) U.S.A. Combination in S. (Trichoscapa): Smith, M.R., 1943f: 307. Junior synonym of talpa: Wesson, 1949: 21; Brown, 1953g: 76.

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

Description

Worker

TL 2.0-2.2, HL 0.53-0.60, HW 0.36-0.39, CI 64-69, ML 0.08-0.11, MI 15-19, SL 0.25-0.29, SI 66-76, PW 0.23-0.26, AL 0.50-0.59 (20 measured).

Fully closed mandibles with a basal gap between anterior clypeal margin and basal tooth that is distinctly longer than length of basal tooth. Anterior clypeal margin very evenly and shallowly broadly convex. In full-face view lateral clypeal margins with a continuous fringe of distinctly projecting, anteriorly curved hairs that are spatulate to very feebly spoon-shaped. Row of hairs on clypeal dorsum closest to lateral margin also project outward and curve anteriorly above the principal row; these hairs shorter than the principal marginal hairs but longer than those situated more centrally on the dorsum. Anterior clypeal margin without hairs that curve away from the midline. Dorsum of clypeus densely clothed with small spatulate hairs that curve anteriorly or anterolaterally. Dorsolateral margin of head with a single projecting flagellate hair, in apicoscrobal position. Dorsum of head close to occipital margin with 1-2 pairs of flagellate hairs. Flagellate hairs also present at pronotal humeri, on pronotal dorsum and mesonotum (1 pair each), on first gastral tergite and dorsal (outer) surfaces of hind tibia and basitarsus. Basigastral costulae strongly developed, extending one-third or more the length of the tergite.

Pyramica deyrupi

Holotype. TL 1.9, HL 0.52, HW 0.33, CI 63, ML 0.09, MI 17, SL 0.26, SI 79, PW 0.22, AL 0.48. Anterior clypeal margin almost transverse in full-face view. Dorsum of clypeus with numerous small short spatulate hairs that are somewhat elevated and curved anteriorly; these hairs tiny by comparison with the long, laterally projecting, anteriorly curved spatulate to narrowly spoon-shaped hairs that fringe the lateral clypeal margins. Dorsolateral margin of head with a flagellate apicoscrobal hair. Cephalic ground pilosity curved and narrowly spatulate, elevated; vertex near occipital margin with a pair of longer erect flagellate hairs. Pronotal humeral hair very long and fine, flagellate. Pronotal dorsum with 1 pair of erect flagellate hairs; mesonotum with a pair of flagellate hairs. Hairs on first gastral tergite very fin e and flagellate ; similar hairs present on waist segments. Hind basitarsus with a fine flagellate hair projecting from the dorsal (outer) surface close to its base. Basigastral costulae coarse, strongly developed , extending over the basal quarter of the tergite.

Paratypes. TL 1.9-2.0, HL 0.52-0.54, HW 0.33-0.35, CI 63-65, ML 0.09-0.10, MI 17-19, SL 0.26-0.28, SI 78-81, PW 0.22-0.24, AL 0.48-0.50 (5 measured).

Type Material

Holotype worker, U. S. A. Illinois, Herod, 12.x.1933 (T.H. Frison & H.H. Ross) (Illinois Natural History Survey Insect Collection) [not seen].

Pyramica deyrupi

Holotype worker, U.S.A.: Florida, Ocala, 9 mi. SSW Marion Co., 16.x.1990, Ocala waterway, scrub area (M. Deyrup) (Museum of Comparative Zoology) [holotype is top specimen on a pin of three].

Paratypes. All specimens from same series (absolute number not known) (Museum of Comparative Zoology, Archhold Biological Station Florida, UTEL, The Natural History Museum)


References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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  • Macgown J. A., S. Y. Wang, J. G. Hill, and R. J. Whitehouse. 2017. A List of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Collected During the 2017 William H. Cross Expedition to the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas with New State Records. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 143(4): 735-740.
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