Colobostruma

These ants can be locally common although they are often overlooked. Most species have small colonies with less than 100 workers, and workers will lie motionless when disturbed. Nests are in soil usually under rocks, in cracks in rocks or in rotten logs. Only a single rainforest species is known to nest arboreally. Foraging is usually on the ground at night but occasionally they are found foraging on mallee. They are also commonly found in leaf litter.

Identification
The antennae have 4 to 6 segments (including the scape). The petiole and postpetiole have thin, wing-like flanges extending outwards from their sides (best viewed from above). Workers of Colobostruma are most similar to workers of Mesostruma. They differ in that Colobostruma has wing-like flanges on both the petiole and postpetiole while the flanges (when present) are limited to the postpetiole in Mesostruma.

Key to Australian Colobostruma Species

Distribution
An Australian genus with one outlier; Colobostruma foliacea occurs in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Nomenclature

 *  COLOBOSTRUMA [Myrmicinae: Dacetini]
 * Colobostruma Wheeler, W.M. 1927f: 32 [as subgenus of Epopostruma]. Type-species: Epopostruma (Colobostruma) leae, by monotypy.
 * Colobostruma raised to genus: Brown, 1948e: 118.
 * Colobostruma senior synonym of Alistruma, Clarkistruma: Brown, 1959c: 1; Brown & Wilson, 1959b: 281.
 * Colobostruma junior synonym of Epopostruma: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 94.
 * ALISTRUMA [junior synonym of Colobostruma]
 * Alistruma Brown, 1948e: 117. Type-species: Epopostruma foliacea, by original designation.
 * Alistruma junior synonym of Colobostruma: Brown, 1959c: 1.
 * CLARKISTRUMA [junior synonym of Colobostruma]
 * Clarkistruma Brown, 1948e: 124. Type-species: Epopostruma alinodis, by original designation.
 * Clarkistruma junior synonym of Colobostruma: Brown, 1959c: 1.