Carebara longii

This is the only North American species of Carebara, collected in Texas. Wheeler provides description of workers, females and males and offered some biological notes. The description was “[based] from numerous workers and males and four females from Denton, Texas” (Wheeler, 1903:145) and is interesting that the samples collected by Mr. Long were devoid of major workers. C. longii were until now put in the genus Oligomyrmex, and is intriguing the lack of soldiers in a genus, Oligomyrmex, normally characterized by the presence of dimorphic workers. Perhaps the soldiers were not collected or they are truly absent in this species.

Identification
A member of the Carebara concinna species complex.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States.

Nomenclature

 *  longii. Erebomyrma longii Wheeler, W.M. 1903a: 140, figs. 1-5 (w.q.m.) U.S.A. Combination in Oligomyrmex: Ettershank, 1966: 123; in Erebomyrma: Wilson, 1986b: 61; in Oligomyrmex: Bolton, 1995b: 299; in Carebara: Fernández, 2004a: 199.

Worker
Fernández (2004) - Lectotype (here designated): HW 0.48 HL 0.60 SL 0.32 PW 0.29 WL 0.55 GL 0.64 TL 2.13 CI 79 SI 68.

Head slightly longer than wide. Posterior border concave, lateral sides slightly convex. Mandibles with 4 teeth. Palps 2,1 (Wheeler 1903). Median portion of clypeus slightly concave. Sides of median portion of clypeus narrowing onto frontal lobes. Frontal triangle poorly defined, best seen in dorsal oblique view. Eyes reduced to one ommatidium, situated anterior to cephalic midline. Antennae 11-segmented with club 2-segmented. Scapes fail to reach the vertexal border in 1/3 of the head length. In side view, alitrunk slightly convex, interrumped by the deep metanotal groove. Promesonotal suture impressed laterally. Mesonotal groove deep and well marked dorsal and laterally. Propodeum armed with small teeth which is hardly longer than broad. Propodeal spiracle relatively small, circular, high and equidistant from base of tooth. Bulla of metapleural gland large. Propodeal lobes reduced to narrow lamellae extended from propodeal tooth downward. Petiole with short peduncle and with well defined, high node; petiolar spiracle at midway of petiolar length. Subpetiolar process produced as strong spine directed forward, spine normally not visible in mounted specimens. Postpetiole dorsally concave, lower than petiole. In dorsal view petiole longer than broad and longer than postpetiole. Postpetiole broader than longer and broader than petiole, and campanuliform in posterior oblique view. In dorsal view anterior margin of first tergum straight. Basal portion of first tergum with a shallow cuneate trench. Body smooth and shining. Mandibles with several coarse scattered punctures interspersed with irregular longitudinal carinae feebly impressed. Head densely puncturated (except in the central longitudinal area), each punctum with a small hair. Anterior half of head with a few fine longitudinal rugulae, concentric around antennal receptacles. Sides of alitrunk (except pronotum) and petiole densely rugoso-reticulated, sometimes the sculpturation poorly defined. Short curved hairs (less than 0.04 mm) on head, antennae, mandibles, legs, promesonotum, a few in petiole. Four medium size hairs (about 0.05 mm) on median portion of clypeus. Large hairs (more than 0.07 in length): Four arising from the anterior clypeal margin proyected upward (the external ones) and forward (the internal ones) approaching the mandibular apices; two near the occipital border and one over occipital border, two near the pronotal humeri, two in the promesonotal dorsum, near the posterior margin; several on petiolar and postpetiolar dorsum. All body yellowish.

Very similar to the male of Carebara longiceps.

Male
Fernández (2004) - Male paralectotype (here designated, LACM): HW (including eyes) 1.13 HL 0.84 EL 0.41 SL 0.23 PW 1.25 WL 1.25 WL 5.2 GL 2.95 TL 10.11 CI 134 SI 20.

Type Material
Fernández (2004) - Paralectotype (here designated). UNITED STATES. Texas: 3 workers, Denton, 28 sep 1902, W. H. Long Jr., and.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Cokendolpher J.C., Reddell J.R., Taylor S.J, Krejca J.K., Suarez A.V. and Pekins C.E. 2009. Further ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from caves of Texas [Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicdae) adicionales de cuevas de Texas]. Texas Memorial Museum Speleological Monographs, 7. Studies on the cave and endogean fauna of North America, V. Pp. 151-168
 * Dean D. A., and S. R. Dean. 2018. A survey of the ant fauna and seasonal alate nuptial flights at two locations in South-Central Texas. Southwestern Entomologist 43(3): 639-647.
 * 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/
 * Moody J. V., and O. F. Francke. 1982. The Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Western Texas Part 1: Subfamily Myrmicinae. Graduate Studies Texas Tech University 27: 80 pp.
 * O'Keefe S. T., J. L. Cook, T. Dudek, D. F. Wunneburger, M. D. Guzman, R. N. Coulson, and S. B. Vinson. 2000. The Distribution of Texas Ants. The Southwestern Entomologist 22: 1-92.
 * Reddell J. R., and J. C. Cokendolpher. 2001. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from caves of Belize, Mexico, and California and Texas (U.S.A.) Texas. Texas Memorial Museum Speleological Monographs 5: 129-154.
 * Roeder K. A., and D. V. Roeder. 2016. A checklist and assemblage comparison of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Check List 12(4): 1935.
 * Wheeler G. C., and J. Wheeler J. 1989. A checklist of the ants of Oklahoma. Prairie Naturalist 21: 203-210.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1903. Erebomyrma, a new genus of hypogaeic ants from Texas. Biological Bulletin (Woods Hole). 4: 137-148.
 * Wheeler, G.C. and J. Wheeler. 1985. A checklist of Texas ants. Prairie Naturalist 17:49-64.