Cephalotes rohweri

These ants nest in branches and limbs of oaks (Quercus spp.). Food consists of honeydew and small arthropods.

Distribution
United States: Southern AZ, may occur in western NM. Mexico.

This taxon was described from United States.

Nomenclature

 *  rohweri. Cryptocerus (Cyathocephalus) rohweri Wheeler, W.M. 1916f: 32, fig. 2 (s.w.) U.S.A. Smith, M.R. 1947a: 35 (q.). Combination in Cryptocerus (Cryptocerus): Smith, M.R. 1947a: 34; in Paracryptocerus (Harnedia): Smith, M.R. 1951a: 825; in Zacryptocerus: Smith, D.R. 1979: 1403; in Cephalotes: De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999: 568. See also: Kempf, 1958a: 129; Creighton & Nutting, 1965: 59.

Worker
Kempf (1958) - Total length (only one specimen measured) 5.2 mm; maximum length of head 1.28 mm; maximum length of thorax 1.43 mm. Black; the following ferruginous: mandibles, part of frontal carinae, apex of femora and tibiae, tarsites II-V.

Head opaque, trapezoidal. Occipital corners not lobate, nor obliquely truncate, forming merely an obtuse angle. Occipital border straight and transverse. Dorsal face, excepting the rather flat, posteriorly very thick and scarcely translucid frontal carinae, and the declivous clearly limited clypeus, convex, finely and sharply punctate, coarsely foveolate, the pits wanting on the frontal carinae and on the clypeus. Lower face coarsely reticulate-rugose and foveolate.

Thorax opaque. Anterior border convex in the middle, slightly concave toward the sides. Scapular angle incorporated in the lateral pronotal crest, the latter tridentate, the anterior two teeth close together, triangular, the third tooth, forming the posterior corner of the crest, subrectangular. Promesonotal suture absent. Sides of mesonotum unarmed, immarginate. Mesoepinotal suture absent. Each side of epinotum with a slender spine, pointing laterad and slightly upward and caudad. In profile the dorsum of the thorax noticeably sloping behind pronotum, the latter convex and ascending. The entire thorax sharply punctate. Dorsum reticulate-rugose, the meshes elongate on mesonotum. Declivous face with longitudinal striae. Laterotergite of pronotum reticulate-rugose and foveolate. Pleura longitudinally rugose.

Peduncular segments opaque, their dorsal face mostly longitudinally rugose. Body of petiole subglobose, its anterior face vertically truncate; from each side of the petiole at some distance from the anterior border, arises a slender, log, slightly curved and pointed spine, pointing obliquely caudad and upward. Postpetiole with anteriorly broad, posteriorly more constricted body. A slender, longer, more recurved and pointed spine arising from each side, next to the anterior border. Dorsum of postpetiole, as seen in profile, nearly flat.

Gaster oval, opaque, finely and sharply punctured throughout. Postpetiole insertion not emarginate, anterolateral borders immarginate. First tergite finely and densely longitudinally rugose on the sides.

Standing hairs pointed, short, sparingly scattered over dorsum of head, thorax, peduncle and gaster, also on sternites, more oblique, but not decumbent, on legs. Silvery scalelike hair minute on posterior portions of head disc, larger and more conspicuous on cheeks, dorsum of thorax, laterotergite of pronotum, dorsum of peduncular segments, lacking on gaster, but present on apical half of extensor face of femora. All foveolae on dorsum of head bear a small decumbent hair, visible only under high magnification.

de Andrade and Baroni Urbani (1999) - Measurements (in mm) and indices: TL 4.04-5.54; HL 0.96-1.28; HW 1.04-1.36; EL 0.26-0.35; PW 0.92-1.22; PeW 0.46-0.60; PpW 0.55-0.65; HBaL 0.44-0.56; HBaW 0.09-0.12; CI 106.2-111.6; PI 111.5-115.5; PPeI 192.8-214.0; PPpI 167.3-192.8; HBaI 19.2-21.4.