Strumigenys eurycera

Few specimens of this species have any associated habitat data. The few details, indicating collections were made in lowland forests, are all that is known about the biology of this species.

Identification
Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys eurycera-group. The grossly expanded lobe on the leading edge of the scape renders this species immediately recognisable. No other species in the region has this character though the development is paralleled by the Afrotropical Strumigenys tetraphanes (a member of the arnoldi-group).

Specimens from Kai Besar are at the upper end of the size range noted. They tend to be larger than those from Sulawesi or Papua New Guinea but the morphologically diagnostic features are stable across the whole range.

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

Nomenclature

 *  eurycera. Epitritus eurycera Emery, 1897c: 581, pl. 14, fig. 17 (w.) NEW GUINEA. Combination in Quadristruma: Brown, 1949b: 50; in Strumigenys: Bolton, 1999: 1674. See also: Bolton, 2000: 779.

Worker
Bolton (2000) - TL 1.7-2.2, HL 0.46-0.56, HW 0.42-0.48, CI 86-93, ML 0.16-0.20, MI 33-37, SL 0.24-0.34, SI 60-70, PW 0.24-0.30, AL 0.49-0.60 (7 measured).

Mandibles slender, narrower at base than at apex, inserted very close together in full-face view and without trace of a lamella on the inner margin proximal of the preapical tooth. Apical antennal segment stout, not spindle-shaped nor constricted basally, broadly articulated to the preapical segment. Scape very flattened and enormously expanded into an anteriorly-directed lobe; length of scape at most only 1.60 X the maximum scape width. Hairs on leading edge of scape curved toward the scape apex on the proximal half and toward the scape base on the distal half; in other words the hairs curve toward the apex of the lobe both proximal and distal of its apical point. Scrobe behind level of eye short and only feebly impressed. Dorsolateral margin of head and pronotal humeri without specialised projecting hairs. Cephalic dorsum without erect hairs or at most with a single minute pair of simple hairs close to the occipital margin. Erect hairs on first gastral tergite short and stiff, truncated or very slightly expanded apically.

Type Material
Bolton (2000) - Syntype workers, PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Aitape (= Berlinhafen) (L. Biro) [examined].

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
 * Brown W. L., Jr. 1949. Revision of the ant tribe Dacetini: III. Epitritus Emery and Quadristruma new genus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Trans. Am. Entomol. Soc. 75: 43-51.
 * CSIRO Collection
 * Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
 * Donisthorpe H. 1916. Epitritus wheeleri, n. sp., an ant new to science; with notes on the genus Epitritus, Emery. Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 28: 121-122.
 * Emery C. 1897. Formicidarum species novae vel minus cognitae in collectione Musaei Nationalis Hungarici quas in Nova-Guinea, colonia germanica, collegit L. Biró. Természetrajzi Füzetek 20: 571-599.
 * 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.
 * Viehmeyer H. 1912. Ameisen aus Deutsch Neuguinea gesammelt von Dr. O. Schlaginhaufen. Nebst einem Verzeichnisse der papuanischen Arten. Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königlichen Zoologischen und Anthropologische-Ethnographischen Museums zu Dresden 14: 1-26.