Acropyga sauteri

Lapolla (2004) - It has been found in grasslands and forests, under stones as well as in leaf litter and soil. It is a trophophoretic species, associated with the mealybug Eumyrmococcus smithii. Terayama (1988) reported that queens carried gravid mealybugs on their mating flights.

Identification
Worker: 11 segmented antennae; mesosomal dorsum flat with many short erect hairs; pronotum short, rises very steeply toward mesonotum; mandible with 3-4 teeth. Queen: As in worker with modifications expected for caste. Male: 12 segmented antennae; digiti 2.5 times longer than cuspi, with peg-like teeth along sides. Compare with Acropyga lauta.

The worker of this species is fairly easily recognized, with 3-4 teeth and no diastema separating the basal teeth from the other teeth. A. sauteri is currently placed in the myops species-group. The long digiti, similar shaped parameres and dark color of the male suggest a close relationship with Acropyga myops.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Oriental Region: Taiwan. Palaearctic Region: China, Japan.

From LaPolla (2004): This species has one of the most northerly distributions in the genus, ranging from Japan south to Macao in southern China.

Nomenclature

 *  sauteri. Acropyga (Rhizomyrma) sauteri Forel, 1912a: 72 (w.) TAIWAN. Wheeler, W.M. 1928c: 31 (q.); Santschi, 1928b: 36 (q.m.). See also: Terayama, Fellowes & Zhou, 2002: 25; LaPolla, 2004a: 68.

Worker
From LaPolla (2004) - Head: yellow; head covered in layer of short appressed hairs; head about as broad as long; posterior margin slightly concave medially; short erect hairs along posterior margin; 11 segmented, incrassate antennae; scape reaches or slightly surpasses posterior margin; clypeus broad, slightly convex, with many erect hairs on dorsal surface; mandible with 3-4 teeth; apical tooth often much longer than others; when present, 4th tooth smaller and offset from masticatory margin; when with 3 teeth, a small hump present along inner mandibular margin where a 4th tooth would be; gap exists between inner mandibular margin and anterior clypeal margin. Mesosoma: yellow; in lateral view, pronotum with short shelf rising sharply toward mesonotum; pronotum covered with short erect hairs; mesosomal dorsum flat; mesonotum and propodeum at same height; mesonotum and propodeum covered in layer of short erect hairs; metanotal area indistinct; declivity steep. Gaster: petiole thick and erect reaching height of bottom portion of propodeal spriacle; gaster yellow, with thick covering of appressed hairs with scattered erect hairs throughout.

Measurements (n=2): TL: 2.16-2.59; HW: 0.527-0.568; HL: 0.561-0.596; SL: 0.413-0.418; ML: 0.681-0.687; GL: 0.909-1.31; CI: 101.25-105.2; SI: 66.67-72.71.

Queen
From LaPolla (2004) - As in worker with modifications expected for caste and the following differences: color a brownish-yellow, darker on apex of head, mesosomal and gaster dorsa.

Measurements (n=1): TL: 3.39; HW: 0.732; HL: 0.619; SL: 0.495; ML: 1.19; GL: 1.58; CI: 118.26; SI: 67.62.

Male
From LaPolla (2004) - Head: yellow to dark brownish-yellow toward apex around 3 promient ocelli; head covered in a layer of short erect hairs; head broader than long; 12 segmented, slightly incrassate antennae; scape surpasses posterior margin by about 112 length of pedicel; clypeus broad, convex medially; mandible with 3-4 teeth; mandibular shape as in worker. Mesosoma: brownish-yellow; pronotum small and collar-like, overarched by mesonotum; dorsum flat with dense layer of short erect hairs; scutellum with longer erect hairs; propodeum long, slightly below level of mesonotum; declivity short and steep. Gaster: petiole thick and erect; gaster brownish yellow, covered in a layer of appressed hairs. Genitalia: in lateral view, parameres long and thin, tapering to rounded apices; cuspi short, nearly straight, with short peg-like teeth at rounded apices; digiti straight, much longer than cuspi (ca. 2.5 times), with short, peg-like teeth along sides toward truncated apices.

Measurements (n=1): TL: 2.21; HW: 0.5; HL: 0.452; SL: 0.371; ML: 0.819; GL: 0.941; CI: 110.62; SI: 74.2.

Type Material
Acropyga (Rhizomyrma) sauteri Forel, 1912a: 72 (w.). Syntype workers, TAIWAN: (no specific locality provided) (depository unknown) [not examined]. Wheeler, W.M., 1928: 31, description of queen; Santschi, 1928a: 36, description of queen and male; Terayama et ai., 2002: 25, description and key.

Additional References

 * Biinzli, G.H. 1935. Untersuchungen iiber coccidophile Ameisen aus den Kaffeefelden von Surinam. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 16:455-593.


 * Brown, W.L., Jr. 1945. An unusual behavior pattern observed in a Szechuanese ant. Journal of the West China Border Research Society 15:185-186.


 * Buschinger, J., J. Heinze & K. Jessen. 1987. First European record ofa queen ant carrying a mealybug during her mating flight. NatUlwissenschaften 74:139-140.


 * Eberhard, W.G. 1978. Mating swarms ofa South American Acropygia [sic.] (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomological News 89(1 & 2):14-16.


 * Eisner, T. 1957. A comparative morphological study ofthc proventriculus of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bulletin ofthe Museum of Comparative Zoology 116:439-490.


 * Holldobler B . & E.O. Wilson. 1990. The Ants. Belknap Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 732 pp.


 * Johnson, c., D. Agosti, J.H. Delabie, K. Dumpert, OJ. Williams, M. von Tschimhaus & U. Maschwitz. 2001 . Acropyga and Azteca Ants with Scale Insects: 20 Million Years ofIntimate Symbiosis. American Museum Noviates 3335:1-18.


 * LaPolla, J.S., S.P. Cover & U.G. Mueller. 2002. Natural history of the mealybug-tending ant Acropyga epedana, with descriptions of the male and queen castes. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 128(3):367-376.


 * Prins, AJ. 1982. Review of Anoplolepis with reference to male genitalia, and notes on Acropyga. Annals of the South African Museum 89:215-247.


 * Weber, N.A. 1944. The Neotropical coccid-tending ants of the genus Acropyga Roger. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 37:89-122.


 * Wheeler, G.C. & J.C. Wheeler. 1953. The ant larvae of the subfamily Formicinae. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 46:126-171.


 * Wheeler, W.M. 1935b. Ants of the genus Acropyga Roger, with description ofa new species. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 43:321-329.


 * Williams, D J . 1998. Mealybugs of the genera Eumyrmococcus Silvestri and Xenococcus Silvestri associated with the ant genus Acropyga Roger and a review of the subfamily (Hemiptera, Coccoidea, Pseudoccidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)(Entomology) 67:1-64.