Cryptopone tengu

This species is distributed on Amami-oshima Island, Japan, and southwards, and nests in the leaf litter and soil in forests. Relatively common in the Nansei Islands, Japan (Japanese Ant Image Database).

Identification
Terayama (1999) - Total length of workers around 3.5-4 mm. Body color yellowish brown to reddish brown. Mandible with 8 teeth, the apical 4 larger than the others. Dorsal outline of clypeus distinctly produced, forming a right. angle in profile. Petiolar node thick; subpetiolar process present on anterior portion, forming a small rounded projection; the remaining ventral margin of petiole straight.

This species resembles Cryptopone sauteri but is easily distinguished by the configuration of the clypeus, petiolar node, and subpetiolar process.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Palaearctic Region: Japan.

Nomenclature

 *  tengu. Cryptopone tengu Terayama, 1999a: 8, figs. 1-5 (w.) JAPAN. Combination in Pachycondyla: Mackay & Mackay, 2010: 3 (by implication as Cryptopone synonymised with Pachycondyla); in Cryptopone: Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014: 185.

Worker
HL 0.85 mm; HW 0.73 mm; SL 0.53 mm; C1 85; S1 72; WL 1.23 mm; PW 0.55 mm; PNL 0.33 mm; PH 0.48 mm; DPW 0.40 mm; TL 3.6 mm. Head rectangular, with parallel sides and slightly concave posterior margin in full face view. Mandible with 8 teeth; apical 4 larger than the others. Dorsal outline of clypeus distinctly produced, forming a right angle in profile; anterior clypeal margin moderately convex. Antennal scape not reaching posterior margin of head in full face view. Eye small, consisting of several indistinct facets. Dorsal outline largely straight; posterodorsal corner of propodeum forming a dull angle. Petiolar node thick; 0.7 times as long as high, with weakly convex dorsal margin in profile; node in dorsal view 0.6 times as long as wide. Subpetiolar process present on anterior portion, forming a small rounded projection; the remaining ventral margin of petiole straight. Head, mesosoma, and petiole microreticulate; gaster very weakly micro reticulate and subopaque. Abundant golden pubecences present on head, mesosoma, dorsum of petiolar node, and gaster. Erect or suberect hairs also present on dorsa of head, mesosoma, petiolar node, and gaster.

Type Material
Holotype. Worker, Amami-oshima, Kagoshima Pref., 26. III. 1980, M. Terayama leg. . Paratypes. 5 workers, same data as holotype; 8 workers, Kunigamison, Okinawa-jima, Okinawa Pref., 21. VIII. 1991, M. Terayama leg.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Terayama M. 1999. Taxonomic studies of the Japanese Formicidae, Part 4. Three new species of Ponerinae. Memoirs of the Myrmecological Society of Japan 1: 7-15.
 * Terayama M., S. Kubota, and K. Eguchi. 2014. Encyclopedia of Japanese ants. Asakura Shoten: Tokyo, 278 pp.
 * Terayama M., and S. Kubota. 2002. Ants of Tokyo, Japan. ARI 26: 1-32.
 * Yamane S. 2016. How many species of Ants in Amami Islands? (in Japanese). Part 2, chapter 1 in How many species of Ants in Amami Islands? Pp. 92-132.
 * Yamane S. S. Fukumoto, Y. Maeda, and Y. Sato. 2017. Records of ants from Kakeroma-jima, the Amami Islands, Japan. Bull. Biogeogr. Soc. Japan 71, 131-137.
 * Yamane S., S. Ikudome, and M. Terayama. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp, 138-317.
 * Yamane S.; Ikudome, S.; Terayama, M. 1999. Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Press, xii + 831 pp. pp138-317.