Cryptocerus marginatus

Identification
A member of the atratus clade exhibiting, in the worker and gyne, the following characters separating it from the sister species Cephalotes atratus: abundant suberect pilosity on the ventral face of the gaster and - in the workers – median pronotal spines ca. 1/4 of the size of the external ones instead of simply minute or absent as in atratus. The males of the two species differ in the CI values as given under the respective descriptions. (de Andrade and Baroni Urbani 1999)

Key to Cephalotes Workers

Distribution
Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, Colombia and Brazil.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname.

Nomenclature

 *  marginatus. Cryptocerus marginatus Fabricius, 1804: 419 (q.) GUYANA. De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999: 124 (m.). Combination in Cephalotes: De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999: 124. Junior synonym of atratus: Klug, 1824: 200; Roger, 1862c: 291. Revived from synonymy and senior synonym of decemspinosus (and its junior synonym spissus): De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999: 124.
 * decemspinosus. Cephalotes decemspinosus Santschi, 1920f: 148 (w.) FRENCH GUIANA. Senior synonym of spissus: Kempf, 1951: 125. Junior synonym of marginatus: De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999: 124.
 * spissus. Cephalotes decemspinosus var. spissus Santschi, 1929d: 302 (w.) SURINAM. Junior synonym of decemspinosus: Kempf, 1951: 125.

Worker
de Andrade and Baroni Urbani (1999) - Moderately variable in size. Head with the sides (frontal carinae) subparallel, very weakly crenulate only on the anterior fourth and upturned laterally. Vertexal border continuing the frontal carinae and sloping ventrally, bearing two pairs of lateral spines, the distal pair ca. 1/2 longer than the proximal one, very weakly carinate to straight posteriorly. Eyes ca. at 6/7 of head length posteriorly and protruding from the ventral border of the antennal scrobes.

Mesosoma relatively slender. Pronotum making an angle of ca. 90° with the mesonotum, straight and inclined antero-ventrally at about 45° on the longitudinal body axis. Posterior pronotal third with two pairs of spines, the external pair almost continuing laterally the pronotal surface and long as half of the maximum head width; the median pair, perpendicular to the pronotum, is regularly much longer than in atratus, ca. 1/4 as long as the external pair. Promesonotal suture well marked. Mesonotum straight and flat in profile. Propodeal suture deeply impressed. Propodeum with basal and declivous faces subequal in length and forming an angle of ca. 90°. Basal face practically flat, passing into the sides with a round angle. Declivous face very weakly concave. Propodeal spines only slightly shorter than the external pronotal ones, obliquely pointing backwards. Metapleural-propodeal suture oblique and deeply impressed laterally.

Petiole with slightly concave anterior and slightly convex posterior faces, bearing two small, dorso-lateral denticles. Postpetiole subequal to petiole in width, narrower posteriorly, with a very short, perpendicular anterior face and nearly flat dorsal one; the angle between the anterior and superior faces bears a pair of short spines, slightly longer than the petiolar ones and directed upwards; ventrally, another pair of spines obliquely directed forwards, subequal to the dorsal ones in length but thinner.

Gaster elongate, incised at the articulation with the postpetiole and marginate anteriorly.

Mid and hind tibiae strongly compressed laterally anq with marginate external borders.

Pilosity and sculpture. Whole body, except the spines and the appendages covered by dense, superficial, oval pits. The pits on the head, mesosoma and pedicel bear a thick, truncate hair and can be interpreted as sensilla auricillica. The pits on the gaster are more superficial, each pit bearing simply pointed hairs (in atratus the deeper pits are generally limited to the head and pronotum). A few suberect, thick bristles on the anterior pair of vertexal spines, on both pairs of pronotal spines and on the pedicel. Numerous yellowish standing hairs on the posterior border of all gastral segments and at least on the distal half of the first gastral sternite. Legs with few, yellowish, subdecumbent or decumbent hairs, particularly on the coxae and on the tibiae.

Colour black moderately shining except the frontal carinae, ferrugineous.

Measurements (in mm) and indices: TL 9.60-17.00; HL 2.04-3.50; HW 2.60-5.20; EL 0.53-0.80; PW 2.60-5.00; PeW 0.68-1.08; PpW 0.75-1.28; HBaL 1.60-2.48; HBaW 0.38-0.60; CI 127.1-148.6; PI 88.2-110.6; PPeI 382.3-555.5; PPpI 346.7-510.2; HBaI 23.6-24.8.

Queen
de Andrade and Baroni Urbani (1999) - Head slightly wider than long, with the sides converging anteriorly and weakly crenulate only on their anterior fifth. Clypeus broadly concave. Vertexal border weakly concave, nearly straight. Abroad median dorsal depression of the head capsule at about 2/3 of its length. Frontal line reaching the median depression or continuing through it up to the median ocellus. Two pairs of lateral vertical spines subequal in size and disposed perpendicularly to the vertexal angles; a third pair of smaller, blunt, vertexal spines behind and between the pair ocelli. Eyes, in dorsal view, not covered by the frontal carinae. Ocelli deeply impressed and subequal in distance each one to the other two. Mandibles robust, serially toothed and transversely impressed at mid length. Antennal scape thick; funicular joints gradually increasing in size from the second to the last.

Mesosoma, in dorsal view, remarkably broadened at the height of the mesopleurae, with flat mesonotum and scutellum, both higher than the pronotum and propodeum in profile. Humeral spines developed and pointing perpendicularly to the major body axis, followed by a pair of minute denticles caudally. Medial pronotal spines much broader and shorter, obtuse to pointed. Propodeum with basal face gently sloping backwards, shorter than the declivous face, which is nearly straight. Propodeal spines robust, their dorsal surface complanary with the basal face of the propodeum, long 1/2 of their distance at the apex, diverging caudally.

Petiole sessile, slightly lower than the postpetiole, with anterior face flat and posterior face only slightly shorter than the anterior one, bearing only two weak dorsal protuberances and no spines. Postpetiole slightly broader than petiole, twice broader than long, bearing two more prominent dorsal protuberances and a broad ventral lamella.

Gaster incised at the articulation with the postpetiole, not marginate; in dorsal view only the first and part of the second tergites visible.

Legs with mid and hind tibiae compressed laterally and distally marginate on the external face.

Fore wings infuscate with very dark R+ Sc connected with a marked pterostigma. Rsf5 connected with R1. R1 almost reaching or entirely reaching and outlining the wing border. A, Cu-A, Cu-A1 and Mf4 well marked and nearly reaching the wing border. Hind wings with well marked R, M+CuA, 1A, CuA, r-m and M. Distal parts of 1A, CuA and M obsolete and nearly reaching the wing border.

Sculpture and pilosity as in the worker but more uniform over the whole body, with the pits more deeply impressed on the pedicel. Abundant, short, truncate, yellowish hairs on the terminal parts of the gastral segments and at least on the distal half of the first gastral sternite.

Colour uniformly black, more shining on the gaster, with a ferrugineous strip parallel to the frontal carinae where the integument is thinner and semi-transparent.

Measurements (in mm) and indices: TL 19.60-20.30; HL 3.28-3.70; HW 4.35-4.90; EL 0.83-0.88; PW 4.60-4.90; PeW 1.44-1.72; PpW 1.60-1.64; HBaL 2.00-2.20; HBaW 0.60-0.61; CI 127.0-132.6; PI 89.8-97.9; PPeI 315.8-331.1 ; PPpI 287.5-306.2; HBaI 27.3-30.5.

Male
de Andrade and Baroni Urbani (1999) - Head much broader than long, with the cheeks strongly converging anteriorly. Vertexal margin prolonging backwards into a neck. Vertexal angles diverging towards the posterior border of the eyes, with a median pair of obtuse, triangular denticles sometimes connected through a carina to the external pair denticles close to the eyes. Frontal carinae more or less raised over the head dorsum. Frontal line marked and reaching the median ocellus posteriorly. Clypeus moderately convex anteriorly and remarkably raised in the middle, its medial part much higher than the mandibular plane. Eyes strongly protruding on the sides of the head which is much narrower in front than behind the eyes. Ocelli delimiting a subtriangular area adjecting dorsally over the already prominent frontal area. Antennal scape thick, ca. two times longer than broad and three times longer than the first funicular joint; second funicular joint ca. 1.5 times longer than the scape; third funicular joint slightly shorter; remaining antennomeres thickening from the base to the apex. Mandibles elongate and weakly carinate laterally.

Mesosoma elongate, in dorsal view the sides continuously arched from the anterior pronotal border to the propodeum. Pronotal sides diverging backwards, sometimes with a pair of minute denticles. Mayrian furrows deeply impressed. Mesonotum and scutellum gently convex in sides view. Propodeum with basal and declivous faces making an angle of ca. 100° and separate by a ridge bearing, at its sides, two small teeth. Petiole and postpetiole subequal in length and width, with their maximum width anteriorly. Petiolar node subrectangular; its anterior face truncate and laterally delimited by a pair of denticles. Postpetiole subexagonal. Gaster elongate; its maximum width subequal to the maximum width of the thorax.

Sculpture. Head punctate and covered by irregular foveae and short rugosities; the foveae and the rugosities broader on the posterior part of the head dorsum and on the whole ventral part of the head. Mesosoma punctate and densely covered by foveae more regular than those on the ventral part of the head. Anterior half of the basal face of the propodeum with the same type of sculpture as on the posterior part of the head dorsum; posterior half of the basal face and anterior part of the declivous face with longitudinal rugosities, the rugosities transversal on the posterior part of the declivous face. Pleurae punctate and with longitudinal rugosities on the pro- and lower metapleurae, the rugosities thicker on the lower metapleurae. Meso and upper metapleurae covered by irregular foveae, sparser on the upper mesopleurae. Pedicel punctate and with very thin, irregular, longitudinal rugosities more impressed on the sides. First gastral tergite reticulate; remaining tergites and sternites superficially reticulate and shining. Legs punctate; the punctures more impressed on the tibiae.

Pilosity. Head and mesosoma covered by long, thick, pointed, erect, golden hairs. The same hairs, but rarer, on the sides of the petiole and postpetiole. Gaster, dorsally, only with few short hairs at the end of each segment, practically bald; ventrally, numerous, long, golden hairs as in the worker and in the gyne. Antennae only pubescent. Legs with similar but shorter and appressed, golden hairs.

Colour. Head, mesosoma, petiole and postpetiole, coxae and trochanters black. Gaster and remaining parts of the legs yellowish-brown; antennae brown and opaque.

Measurements (in mm) and indices: TL 11.34-13.88; HL 1.64-1.76; HW 1.80-2.16; EL 0.62-0.72; PW 1.72-2.16; PeW 0.84-0.96; PpW 0.98-1.08; HBaL 1.80-2.08; HBaW 0.25-0.30; CI 109.7-122.7; PI 98.1-104.6; PPeI 179.2-257.1; PPpI 172.0-204.1; HBaI 11.5-15.9.

Type Material
de Andrade and Baroni Urbani (1999):

Gyne. Type locality: "in America meridionali", actually Essequibo (Guyana). Type material: Holotype winged gyne (wings detached) labelled "Essequibo, Smidt, Mus. J. Lund, Cryptocerus atratus (Fabr.) Linn., marginatus Fabr. ", in, examined.

Cephalotes decemspinosus Worker. Type locality: St. Jean du Maroni (French Guyana). Type material: 4 syntype workers from St. Jean du Maroni, French Guyana, Le Moult in (examined), lectotype worker, in Coll. Borgmeier, designated by Kempf, 1951 same data as the syntypes.

Cephalotes decemspinosus var. spissus (sic). Worker. Type locality: surroundings of the Lucie River (Surinam). Type material: 3 syntype workers labelled Suriname-Exped., Lucie-riv. -Gebied, VII -VIII. 1 926,, examined.