Strumigenys agostii

The type material was collected from humid forest leaf litter.

Identification
Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys disjuncta-group. S. agostii separates from the other two species of the group as follows.

S. agostii: Head very narrow, CI 58. Head in profile as deep at level of antennal insertion as at the level of the eye. Disc of postpetiole sculptured. Femora and tibiae with minute greyish appressed pubescence. Leading edge of scape with all hairs curved toward the apex of the scape. Dorsum of head in profile only with spoon-shaped hairs to occipital margin. No standing hairs at base of first gastral tergite. Basal tooth of mandible no shorter than fourth tooth from the base.

Strumigenys clotho and Strumigenys disjuncta: Head broader, CI 68-69. Head in profile shallower at level of antennal insertion than at the level of the eye. Disc of postpetiole smooth. Femora and tibiae with small appressed spatulate hairs. Leading edge of scape with one or more hairs curved toward the base of the scape. Dorsum of head in profile with larger and more elevated hairs near occipital margin. Standing hairs present at base of first gastral tergite. Basal tooth of mandible shorter than fourth tooth from the base. Apart from the above characters agostii also differs from clotho as the latter has no spongiform pad at the base of the first gastral sterite but has an apicoscrobal hair.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Indo-Australian Region: Indonesia, New Guinea.

Nomenclature

 *  agostii. Pyramica agostii Bolton, 2000: 412 (w.) INDONESIA (Aru I.). Combination in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 115

Worker
Holotype. TL 2.5, HL 0.69, HW 0.40, CI 58, ML 0.10, MI 14, SL 0.36, SI 90, PW 0.32, AL 0.74. Dorsal surfaces of head, alitrunk, waist segments and gaster densely clothed with pale spoon-shaped hairs that are subappressed to appressed; without standing hairs of any form on these surfaces. The hairs curve anteriorly on the head, toward the midline on the pronotum and posteriorly on the waist segments and gaster. With head in full-face view the dorsolateral margins with anteriorly curved spoon-shaped hairs similar to those on the dorsum; without apicoscrobal or other freely projecting hairs. Pronotal humerus without a projecting hair that is different from others on the dorsum. Spoon-shaped hairs on leading edge of scape sparse, all directed toward the apex of the scape (a couple of hairs on the right scape point forward but these have been disturbed during preparation of the unique specimen). Femora and tibiae with minute appressed greyish pubescence only, without spatulate hairs. Entirety of head and alitrunk, including propodeal declivity, densely reticulate-punctate; no smooth areas on side of alitrunk. Fourth tooth from base on mandible no taller than the basal. Scape narrow and subcylindrical in dorsal view, the subbasal angle extremely shallow, almost effaced. Head long and narrow in full-face view, CI 58; in profile head of almost equal depth throughout.

Pronotum in dorsal view without humeral angles, the sides and anterior margin of the pronotum forming a smooth narrow arch. Propodeum armed with a pair of minute triangular teeth that are subtended by narrow carinae. Petiole in profile without a ventral spongiform appendage but a minute carinate vestige remains beneath the node. Petiole node in profile with the anterior face higher than the dorsum is long. Ventral spongiform lobe of postpetiole large, the first gastral sternite with a well developed spongiform pad.

Type Material
Holotype worker, Indonesia: Aru Island, Wokam, 50 m., 22.viii.1991, #1 F911201, 5.40°S, 134.48°E, humid forest leaf litter (D. Agosti).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * 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.