Blepharidatta conops

Ergatoid queens of B. conops have head disks that can be used for phragmosis, the first known case of this defensive behavior to be employed by a non-worker caste.

Identification
Kempf (1967) - Following are the characters that distinguish conops  from Blepharidatta brasiliensis: larger size; darker color; pilosity more abundant with hairs present also on ventral surface of petiole and postpetiole; clypeus with a pair of prominent tubercle; vertex with a broad sagittal furrow flanked by a pair of low and diverging ridges; occiput separated from vertex by a carina; dorsum of head lacking longitudinal rugae; occipital corners broadly and obliquely truncate and bidentate; eyes strikingly conical; antero-inferior corner of pronotum bidentate; epinotal spines relatively shorter, less approximated at base and less diverging at apex; infraspinal lamella with an upper spine and a median lobe; petiole rather cylindrical than clavate without a differentiated node; gaster entirely covered with microsculpture, never partly smooth and shining. According to Wheeler (1915: 485) brasiliensis has only 4 teeth on chewing border of mandibles. But according to my observation, both brasiliensis and conops have 5 mandibular teeth.

Distribution
Brazil. Brandão et al. (2001) - In some localities B. conops are one of the most common ants (Rosa da Silva and Brandão, 1999). It is an inhabitant of the western part of the cerrados. No B. conops specimens have ever been collected in the much more well surveyed eastern cerrados, suggesting this ant species belongs to the cerrado ant fauna segment under Amazonian influence.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Brazil.

Nomenclature

 *  conops. Blepharidatta conops Kempf, 1967d: 355, figs. 4, 5 (w.) BRAZIL. See also: Diniz, Brandão & Yamamoto, 1998: 270.

Worker
(holotype). - Total length 4.4 mm; maximum length of head capsule 1.12 mm; maximum width of head (eyes excluded) 0.93 mm; scape length 0.77 mm; maximum diameter of eyes 0.13 mm; Weber's length of thorax 1.23 mm; hind femur length 1.07 mm; petiole length 0.72 mm; petiole width 0.24 mm. Dark reddish brown; legs and gaster chestnut brown. Integument opaque, finely and densely reticulate-punctate throughout, with a silky sheen. Microsculpture of gaster rather superficial, therefore somewhat shining.

Head. Mandibles finely striate; chewing border with 5 teeth, apical and subapical teeth (often worn off) stronger than basal ones, prominent, pointed. Anterior border of clypeus convex; central portion perpendicular, shallowly concave, basal half laterally marginate, the margination ending above in a prominent tubercle or blunt tooth; posterior portion grading into the dorsal face of head with convex and distinct posterior border. Frontal area distinct and impressed. Frontal carinae greatly expanded laterad, covering the sides of head in dorsal view, their lateral border coarsely crenate; just inside the border runs a longitudinal ridge. Dorsum of head with a sagittal impression, broadening caudad and flanked by a pair of diverging, blunt and low ridges, each one sending out laterad two or three very faint transverse ridges. Occiput separated from vertex by an oblique irregular ridge or carina which becomes obsolete in the middle. Occipital corners obliquely truncate, prominent, bearing laterad a blunt excised lobe, mesad a small tooth. Occipital border deeply excised, with a prominent convex lobe in the middle. Antennal scrobe covered by the frontal carinae, deep, attaining the occipital corner, margined below by a carinule running from the occipital corner to above the eye, with another carinule branching off somewhat behind the eye and terminating below it. Cheeks sparsely, coarsely and irregularly rugose, lower border sharply marginate. Gular face and antennal scrobe without macrosculpture, nearly smooth. Eyes conical, unusually prominent, their depth subequal to their width at base. Scape slender, apically gently incrassate, reaching the apex of the scrobe when lodged in it. Funicular segments: I twice as long as broad, II-VII scarcely longer than broad, VIII slightly, IX conspicuously, X strikingly elongate.

Thorax. Pronotum with a prominent scapular and posterior tubercle on each side; a similar tubercle, yet fainter, projecting laterad from mesonotum. Dorsal sutures on thorax absent. Antero-inferior angle of pronotum bidentate. Mesopleura with a prominent, triangular, foliaceous lobe anteriorly, projecting forward, laterad of anterior coxae. Epinotum laterally sharply marginate on base, with very long, thin, acute, scarcely raised and little diverging spines, with a prominent infraspinal lamella marginating the declivous face; this infraspinal lamella bears dorsally another small spine, below it a rounded lobe and at the bottom a rectangular tooth. Dorsum and sides of thorax with heavy, irregular ridges and rugae, lacking on epinotum. Basal and declivous face of epinotum separated from each other by a transverse carinule which is narrowly interrupted in the middle. Legs rather long, sharply and finely punctate; femora only gently incrassate; hind tibiae scarcely longer than tarsite I of the same leg.

Pedicel. Petiole elongate, subcylindrical, anteriorly slightly attenuate both in dorsal and side view. Anteroventrally with a small denticle. Postpetiole in dorsal view subquadrate, scarcely broader than long, its sides straight and subparallel. Both segments irregularly rugose, but less coarsely so than on thorax. Gaster elliptical, narrowly truncated in front.

Pilosity: numerous long, bristly, standing hairs on dorsum of head, thorax, pedicel and gaster; similar hairs, but conspicuously shorter and scarcer on ventral face of petiole, postpetiole and gaster. Fore coxae with a few long standing hairs projecting from the anterior face. Antennae and legs with shorter, rather dense and oblique hairs. Fringing hairs of frontal carinae.

All six specimens are practically alike. The size variation is very little. The holotype is the smallest of the series. The largest specimens measures as follows: Total length 4.6 mm; head length 1.17 mm; head width (without eyes) 0.96 mm; Weber's length of thorax 1.30 mm; petiole length 0.75 mm; petiole width 0.27 mm.

Type Material
6 workers (holotype and paratypes) from Fazenda Retiro de Telhas, Tres Lagoas, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, taken on May 28, 1964 by Karol Lenko, who discovered them at day time walking on the ground in a xerophilous forest of the savanna type callee! locally «cerradao». Holotype and 2 paratypes deposited in the collection of the Departamento de Zoologia, Sao Paulo (DZSP), the remaining paratypes in my private collection (WWK).