Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Image catalog (click here). Includes images of holotype.
Range
Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil (Amazonas).
Identification
Color uniform pale yellow color; eyes very small, about 6 facets across long axis; mesosomal setae uniformly spread over promesonotum, not in three rows, subequal in length, humeral seta 0.14mm; pronotum convex, smooth and shining, no longitudinal rugae, mesonotum with longitudinal rugae laterally; propodeal spines long, thin, upturned; WL 0.51mm; side of petiole very faintly punctate; anteroventral margin weakly developed, blunt; anteroventral postpetiolar tooth weakly developed.
Description of worker
Color yellow orange; workers monomorphic in size.
Mandibles feebly striate on proximal half, smooth and shining with large piligerous puncta on distal half; clypeus with two longitudinal carinulae at anterior margin, anterior margin gently convex to straight; head slightly longer than wide, subquadrate, with flat posterior border; antenna with terminal two segments enlarged to form a club; scapes with abundant suberect flexuous setae; when scapes laid back from antennal insertions, they barely surpass margin of vertex; face smooth and shining; face covered with abundant, short, moderately stiffened, amber setae, no appressed pubescence; in face view short setae project from lateral and posterior margins; eye small, 5-6 ommatidia across long axis.
Promesonotum in lateral profile short, convex, forming an evenly curved arch; propodeal suture deep in dorsal view but partially obscured in profile by lateral carinulae that bridge the suture; propodeum with short, differentiated dorsal face and longer posterior face; propodeal spines short, spiniform, upturned; pronotal dorsum largely smooth and shining, with traces of longitudinal carinulae laterally; mesonotum with lateral carinae that converge toward propodeal suture; medial mesonotum concave, smooth and shining; dorsal face of propodeum feebly rugulose, posterior face smooth and shining; side of pronotum smooth and shining; katepisternum and side of propodeum shining, largely smooth with traces of feeble carinulae; mesosomal setae somewhat stiffened, abundant, forming a stubble over promesonotum and propodeal dorsum, variable length, humeral seta 0.14mm; tibiae with abundant short subdecumbent to erect setae, none longer than maximum tibial width.
Petiole in side view trapezoidal, faintly microareolate; anteroventral tooth small, rounded to subacute; dorsal face of petiole smooth and shining, subquadrate, about as wide as long, with a pair of setae on each posterolateral tubercle; postpetiole without anteroventral tooth, postpetiole in dorsal view globular, wider than long, with 6-8 setae; fourth abdominal tergite smooth and shining, with abundant medium-length suberect somewhat stiffened amber setae, no appressed pubescence.
Variation:
Specimens from San Vito area in the southern mountains of Costa Rica are more robust, with the posterior face of propodeum partially punctate. In South America, there is a tendency for the lateral carinulae of mesonotum to form angle or tuberculate juncture dividing dorsal and posterior faces. In Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador the propodeal spines are less upturned. In Venezuela and Brazil the dorsal pilosity of the mesosoma is less dense, approaching the condition seen in minutissima. A collection from Venezuela has a very small alate queen, like minutissima, while a collection from Colombia has very large alate queens. This parallels variation in queen size seen in the minutissima complex in North America, and it remains to be seen whether this is inter versus intraspecific variation. The relatively small worker eye is a consistent character uniting these specimens.
Measurements:
Holotype: HL 0.462, HW 0.464, HC 0.441, SL 0.350, EL 0.095, WL 0.472, SPL 0.110, PTH 0.123, PTL 0.154, PTW 0.137, PPL 0.111, PPW 0.148, CI 100, OI 21, SI 76, PTHI 80, PTWI 89, PPI 133, SPI 23.
Other specimens: HL 0.479, 0.583, 0.610; HW 0.488, 0.583, 0.613; HC 0.466, 0.545, 0.585; SL 0.359, 0.480, 0.460; EL 0.107, 0.111, 0.123; A11L 0.206; A11W 0.090; A10L 0.090; A10W 0.080; A09L 0.039; A09W 0.055; A08L 0.031; A08W 0.046; WL 0.523, 0.621, 0.642; SPL 0.110, 0.085, 0.121; PTH 0.125, 0.144, 0.155; PTL 0.160, 0.174, 0.194; PTW 0.149, 0.173, 0.185; PPL 0.121, 0.149, 0.149; PPW 0.163, 0.184, 0.180; CI 102, 100, 100; OI 22, 19, 20; SI 75, 82, 75; PTHI 78, 83, 80; PTWI 93, 99, 95; PPI 135, 123, 121; SPI 21, 14, 19; ACI 1.85.
Description of Queen
A normal queen (dorsal face of propodeum drops steeply from postscutellum and much of propodeum appears ventral to scutellum and postscutellum) with general shape, sculpture, and pilosity characters of the worker.
Natural History
Crematogaster flavomicrops occurs in lowland to mid-montane wet forest habitats. It is not common, and is most often encountered in Berlese samples or Winkler samples of sifted leaf litter from the forest floor. It has been twice collected in rotten wood on Isla Gorgona in Colombia (M. Baena, pers. comm.).
Comments
The combination of yellow coloration and very small eyes uniquely identify this species. Also, the dorsal pilosity is abundant and somewhat short and stubble-like. Similar species are minutissima and wardi, which have larger eyes and sparser, longer, more flexuous dorsal setae. It is also similar to cubaensis (a Cuban endemic), which has similarly abundant short pilosity but larger eyes.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. longinoj@evergreen.edu
Date of this version: 4 March 2003.
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