Colobopsis vitrea

Colobopsis vitrea is confined to the tropics and is often seen foraging on tree trunks and on the ground in rain forest. Smith (1860) reported it as "running in numbers up and down tree trunks, probably in search of Aphides". Viehmeyer (1916) noted that in Singapore, C. vitrea "nests in thin bamboo, in rotten wood and in hollow branches of Mangifera. Females frequently on the lamp. One such caught female had raised 6 sterile females in a plaster nest". W.C. Crawley collected specimens of C. vitrea from "a hole in a tree" near Darwin. Staff of the Quarantine Service, Department of Primary Industries, Queensland collected specimens of C. vitrea (vial Hy77) from a wooden window sill at Cairns, Queensland on 5 June 1970.

Identification
A member of the Camponotus macrocephalus species-group. This group has the following characters:


 * Fore femurs swollen, much greater in diameter than middle and hind femurs, generally more swollen than in most other Camponotus species.
 * Spines or bristles on the lower surfaces of the tibiae lacking, or at most, only one or two (most Camponotus species possess two rows of 5 to 10 spines).
 * Major workers and queens with the anterior of the head is truncated and flattened (phragmotic).
 * Major and minor workers present, but not intermediate-sized workers (worker caste dimorphic).

Within this group, this species can be diangosed as follows:

Whole ant clothed in plentiful long erect setae except absent on most of underside of head. In lateral view, metanotal groove is depressed, mesonotum and propodeum form high, arched convexities.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Australasian Region: Australia. Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea, Philippines. Oriental Region: India, Nicobar Island, Thailand. Palaearctic Region: China.

Castes

 * Major

Nomenclature

 * incursor. Formica incursor Smith, F. 1860b: 95 (w.) INDONESIA (Batjan I.). Junior synonym of vitrea: Donisthorpe, 1932c: 459.
 *  vitrea. Formica vitrea Smith, F. 1860b: 94 (w.) INDONESIA (Batjan I.). Emery, 1899c: 7 (l.); Viehmeyer, 1916a: 160 (s.q.m.); Karavaiev, 1933a: 319 (m.). Combination in Camponotus: Dalla Torre, 1893: 257; in C. (Colobopsis): Emery, 1893e: 225. Combination in Colobopsis: Ward, et al., 2016: 350. Senior synonym of siggii: Forel, 1895e: 455; of adlerzii: Forel, 1895e: 458; of incursor: Donisthorpe, 1932c: 459. Current subspecies: nominal plus angustulus, carinatus (unresolved junior homonym), latinotus (unresolved junior homonym), oebalis, praeluteus, praerufus, vittatulus. See also: McArthur & Shattuck, 2001: 41.
 * adlerzii. Prenolepis adlerzii Forel, 1886f: 209 (w.) AUSTRALIA. Junior synonym of vitrea: Forel, 1895e: 458.
 * siggii. Camponotus (Colobopsis) angustata var. siggii Forel, 1893b: 436 (s.w.) THAILAND. Junior synonym of vitrea: Forel, 1895e: 455.

Type Material


Formica incursor

Holotype worker in. Labelled “Bac. 52.”

Formica vitrea

Two worker syntypes in. Labelled “Bac. 13.”

Taxonomic Notes
McArthur & Shattuck (2001) made no attempt to determine the distribution of C. vitrea outside Australia. They were unable to examine type material of C. vitrea and the concept they accepted was based on Smith's original description.

McArthur (2012) treats the junior synonym C. siggii as a full species but without comment or justification. This change is not followed here.

Major worker
In lateral view. Dark red brown, limbs and funiculus lighter coloured, gaster darker. Head: Truncation rounded 135°; side glossy with sparse extremely short, adpressed setae, without erect setae; few long and short, erect setae on vertex and posterior head, absent on anterior head; underside of head without erect setae. Pronotum and mesonotum: Uniform semicircle scarcely marked by pro-mesonotal suture, plentiful long and short, erect setae and sparse flat-lying setae. Metanotum: Trough with distinct sloping sides; spiracle directed upward, aperture level with dorsum. Propodeum: Humped high, also forming semicircle, slightly flattened on top; angle near right angle, rounded; declivity straight above, concave below; ratio dorsum/declivity about 1.5; spiracle situated midway between coxa and dorsum, directed backward, surrounded by glossy surface with very sparse, short, fine setae. Node: Short longitudinally, few long setae, without pubescence, lower and upper halves of anterior face straight, separated by rounded 135° angle; summit sharp; posterior face mostly straight. Gaster: Glossy. Fore femur: Swollen. Mid tibia: With plentiful sub-erect setae, without bristles inside. In dorsal view. Head: Sides weakly convex, tapering to front; vertex straight; scape with plentiful distinct setae raised 45°; frontal carinae wider than half 1{W, more or less continuous with lateral margins of clypeus; frontal area elongated, diamond shaped, depressed; max HW at eye centre; five teeth. Clypeus slightly raised above cheeks and separated on sides by ridge; anterior third of clypeus, surrounding cheeks and mandibles form a truncated plane separated from surroundings by rounded angle without striations; sides of clypeus narrow, widest at truncation then tapering to front; glossy without pubescence, with one or two erect setae; without carina; anterior margin very narrow, projecting, convex. Front or rear view. Node: Summit straight sometimes widely indented, with plentiful, short, fine setae.

Minor worker
Lateral view. Dark red brown, limbs and funiculus lighter, Head: Side glossy with sparse, extremely short, adpressed setae; vertex with few long and short fine setae; underside of head without erect setae. Mesosoma: Similar to major worker except aperture of metanotal spiracle placed above dorsum. Node: Short longitudinally with few long setae, lacking pubescence; lower and upper halves of anterior face straight, separated by rounded 135° angle; summit sharp but not as sharp as major; posterior face mostly straight. Gaster: Slightly darker than head, glossy. Fore femur: Little lighter coloured than coxa, swollen. Mid tibia: Plentiful sub-erect, long, setae, lacking bristles on inside. Dorsal view. Head: Sides nearly straight, tapering to front; vertex convex, flattened at centre; scape with plentiful distinct setae raised 45'; frontal carinae wider than half HW; frontal area indistinct triangle; max HW at eye centre. Clypeus: Without truncation, finely punctate, anterior margin convex, projecting, very wide; sides of clypeus straight; glossy, without pubescence with few fine, erect setae; with indistinct carina. Front or rear view. Node: Summit wide, straight, with plentiful; short; fine setae, sometimes indented.

Measurements
HW 0.85-1.55 mm, ILL 0.85-1.55 mm, PW 0.60- 1.05 mm, HT 0.65-1.20 mm, CARW 0.45-0.85 mm, TL 0.80-0.95 mm.

Worker. Length 2 lines (= 4 mm). Jet black, smooth and shinning; head a little wider than the thorax; eyes ovate, placed rather high on the sides of the head; the antennae longer than the thorax, flagellum slightly thickened towards the apex; the mandibles pale rufo-testaceous. Thorax narrow, compressed behind and strangulated at the base of the metathorax; the scale of the abdomen compressed, quadrate and slightly notched above. Abdomen wider than the head, subglobose; the apical margins of the segments narrowly pale testaceous. Hab. Bachian. This species is found on trees, running in numbers up and down the trunks, probably in search of Aphides.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
 * Dahl F. 1901. Das Leben der Ameisen im Bismarck-Archipel, nach eigenen Beobachtungen vergleichend dargestellt. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 2: 1-70.
 * Donisthorpe H. 1948. A fourth instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (12)1: 131-143.
 * Donisthorpe H. 1948. A second instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (11)14: 297-317.
 * Donisthorpe H. 1948. A third instalment of the Ross Collection of ants from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (11)14: 589-604.
 * Donisthorpe, Horace. 1943. The Ants of Waigeu Island, North Dutch New Guinea. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History 11 (10): 433-475.
 * Emery C. 1893. Formicides de l'Archipel Malais. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 1: 187-229.
 * Emery C. 1911. Formicidae. Résultats de l'expédition scientifique néerlandaise à la Nouvelle-Guinée en 1903 sous les auspices de Arthur Wichmann. Nova Guinea 5: 531-539.
 * Emery C. 1911. Formicidae. Résultats de l'expédition scientifique néerlandaise à la Nouvelle-Guinée en 1907 et 1909 sous les auspices de Dr. H. A. Lorentz. Nova Guin. 9: 249-259
 * Emery, C.. "Voyage de MM. Bedot et Pictet dans l'Archipel Malais. Formicides de l'Archipel Malais." Revue Suisse de Zoologie 1 (1893): 187-229.
 * Fontanilla A. M., A. Nakamura, Z. Xu, M. Cao, R. L. Kitching, Y. Tang, and C. J. Burwell. 2019. Taxonomic and functional ant diversity along tropical, subtropical, and subalpine elevational transects in southwest China. Insects 10, 128; doi:10.3390/insects10050128
 * Forel A. 1886. Études myrmécologiques en 1886.. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 30: 131-215.
 * Forel A. 1893. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part II. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 7: 430-439.
 * Forel A. 1901. Formiciden aus dem Bismarck-Archipel, auf Grundlage des von Prof. Dr. F. Dahl gesammelten Materials. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 2: 4-37.
 * Forel A. 1903. Les fourmis des îles Andamans et Nicobares. Rapports de cette faune avec ses voisines. Rev. Suisse Zool. 11: 399-411.
 * Forel A. 1912. Einige neue und interessante Ameisenformen aus Sumatra etc. Zool. Jahrb. Suppl. 15: 51-78.
 * Forel A. 1913. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise nach Ostindien ausgeführt im Auftrage der Kgl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin von H. v. Buttel-Reepen. II. Ameisen aus Sumatra, Java, Malacca und Ceylon. Gesammelt von Herrn Prof. Dr. v. Buttel-Reepen in den Jahren 1911-1912. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 36:1-148.
 * Gay H., and R. Hensen. 1992. Ant specificity and behaviour in mutualisms with epiphytes: the case of Lecanopteris (Polypodiaceae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 47: 261-284.
 * General D. M., and G. D. Alpert. 2012. A synoptic review of the ant genera (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the Philippines. Zookeys 200: 1-111.
 * Itino T., and S. Yamane. The vertical distribution of ants on canopy trees in a Bornean lowland rainf forest. Tropics 4(2/3): 277-281.
 * Janda M., G. D. Alpert, M. L. Borowiec, E. P. Economo, P. Klimes, E. Sarnat, and S. O. Shattuck. 2011. Cheklist of ants described and recorded from New Guinea and associated islands. Available on http://www.newguineants.org/. Accessed on 24th Feb. 2011.
 * Janda M., and M. Konecna. 2011. Canopy assembalges of ants in a New Guinea rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 27: 83-91.
 * Karavaiev V. 1933. Ameisen aus dem Indo-Australischen Gebiet, VII. Konowia 11: 305-320.
 * Klimes P., M. Janda, S. Ibalim, J. Kua, and V. Novotny. 2011. Experimental suppression of ants foraging on rainforest vegetation in New Guinea: testing methods for a whole-forest manipulation of insect communities. Ecological Entomology 36: 94-103.
 * Klimes P., P. Fibich, C. Idigel, and M. Rimandai. 2015. Disentangling the diversity of arboreal ant communities in tropical forest trees. PLoS ONE 10(2): e0117853. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117853
 * Klimes P., and A. McArthur. 2014. Diversity and ecology of arboricolous ant communities of Camponotus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a New Guinea rainforest with descriptions of four new species. Myrmecological News 20: 141-158.
 * Kutter H. 1933. Einige Ameisen von der Südküste von Neu-Britannien. Mitt. Schweiz. Entomol. Ges. 15: 471-474.
 * Kutter H. 1933. Einige Ameisen von der Südküste von Neu-Britannien. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 15: 471-474.
 * Lucky A., E. Sarnat, and L. Alonso. 2011. Ants of the Muller Range, Papua New Guinea, Chapter 10. In Richards, S. J. and Gamui, B. G. (editors). 2013. Rapid Biological Assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guineas sublime karst environments. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60. Conservation International. Arlington, VA.
 * Lucky A., K. Sagata, and E. Sarnat. 2011. Ants of the Nakanai Mountains, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, Chapter 1. In Richards, S. J. and Gamui, B. G. (editors). 2013. Rapid Biological Assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guineas sublime karst environments. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60. Conservation International. Arlington, VA.
 * Lucky A., L. E. Alonso, E. Sarnat, and J. Hulr. 2015. Ants and scolytine beetles. In: Richards, S.J. and N. Whitmore (editors) 2015. A rapid biodiversity assessment of Papua New Guinea's Hindenburg Wall region. Wildlife Conservation Society Papua New Guinea Program. Goroka, PNG.
 * Mohanraj P., M. Ali, and K. Veerakumari. 2010. Formicidae of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Indian Ocean: Bay of Bengal). Journal of Insect Science 10: Article 172
 * Mohanraj, P., M. Ali and K. Veenakumari. 2010. Formicidae of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Indian Ocean: Bay Of Bengal). Journal of Insect Science 10:172.
 * Orivel J., P. Klimes, V. Novotny, and M. Leponce. 2018. Resource use and food preferences in understory ant communities along a complete elevational gradient in Papua New Guinea. Biotropica 10.1111/btp.12539
 * Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
 * Ran H., and S. Y. Zhou. 2011. Checklist of Chinese Ants: the Formicomorph Subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (I). Journal of Guangxi Normal University: Natural Science Edition. 29(3): 65-73.
 * Smith, Fr.. "Catalogue of hymenopterous insects collected by Mr. A. R. Wallace in the Islands of Bachian, Kaisaa, Amboyna, Gilolo, and at Dory in New Guinea." Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 5 (1860): 93-143.
 * Snelling R. R. 1998. Insect Part 1: The social Hymenoptera. In Mack A. L. (Ed.) A Biological Assessment of the Lakekamu Basin, Papua New Guinea, RAP 9. 189 ppages
 * Snelling R. R. 2000. Ants of the Wapoga river area, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. In Mack, Andrew L. and Leeanne E. Alonso (eds.). 2000. A Biological Assessment of the Wapoga River Area of Northwestern Irian Jaya, Indonesia. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 14, Conservation International, Washington, DC.
 * Stitz H. 1911. Australische Ameisen. (Neu-Guinea und Salomons-Inseln, Festland, Neu-Seeland). Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1911: 351-381.
 * Stitz H. 1912. Ameisen aus Ceram und Neu-Guinea. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1912: 498-514.
 * Taylor R. W. 1987. A checklist of the ants of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Division of Entomology Report 41: 1-92.
 * Viehmeyer H. 1912. Ameisen aus Deutsch Neuguinea gesammelt von Dr. O. Schlaginhaufen. Nebst einem Verzeichnisse der papuanischen Arten. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königlichen Zoologischen und Anthropologische-Ethnographischen Museums zu Dresden 14: 1-26.
 * Viehmeyer H. 1913. Ameisen aus dem Kopal von Celebes. Stettiner Entomologische Zeitung 74: 141-155.
 * Viehmeyer H. 1914. Papuanische Ameisen. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1914: 515-535.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1919. The ants of Borneo. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 63:43-147.
 * Wheeler W.M. 1935. Check list of the ants of Oceania. Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum 11(11):1-56.
 * Wheeler, William Morton.1935.Checklist of the Ants of Oceania.Occasional Papers 11(11): 3-56
 * Wilson E. O. 1959. Some ecological characteristics of ants in New Guinea rain forests. Ecology 40: 437-447.
 * Zryanin V. A. 2011. An eco-faunistic review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). In: Structure and functions of soil communities of a monsoon tropical forest (Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam) / A.V. Tiunov (Editor). – M.: KMK Scientific Press. 2011. 277 р.101-124.