Acropyga dubitata

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Acropyga dubitata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Formicinae
Tribe: Plagiolepidini
Genus: Acropyga
Species: A. dubitata
Binomial name
Acropyga dubitata
(Wheeler, W.M. & Mann, 1914)

Acropyga dubitata casent0911126 p 1 high.jpg

Acropyga dubitata casent0911126 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Acropyga dubitata has been collected by one collector (Aug. Busck) and is only known from the type series, all males. The specimen labels on the MCZ types contain cryptic handwritten numbers (27.9, 7-9, 14.9.05, etc.). Since these are all winged males it is possible each pin represents a flight intercept sample with the males captured on various days in Sept 1905. Every label does include a 9 but only one of these "dates" ends with an 05. Nothing is known about the biology of this apparent Hispaniola endemic. The only other species of this genus known from Hispaniola is Acropyga parvidens and it has not been associated with any males. It is possible these two species are actually one.

Identification

LaPolla (2004): Male (only known caste) with 11-12 segmented antennae; parameres short and rectangular in shape; apex of paramere with a dorsocaudal point.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 19.3386° to 18.72°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Dominican Republic (type locality), Greater Antilles.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Explore-icon.png Explore Overview of Acropyga biology 
Little is known about Acropyga dubitata. Until further studies reveal more about this species we can infer that its natural history and biology should be similar to other Acropyga. LaPolla published a worldwide revision of the Acropyga in 2004 and the following synopsis is based on this excellent treatment of the genus.

In overall appearance Acropyga are small, robust, yellowish ants possessing a thin, easily collapsible cuticle. The species generally appear rather similar to each other morphologically. In some species workers and queens display an unusual range of phenotypic variation. Antennal segment number, for example, can vary within and between species. Even a single specimen may posses antennae with a different number of antennal segments and workers in numerous species possess one more antennal segment than conspecific males.

The small eyes, reduced antennae segmentation, lightly pigmented cuticle, and hairs covering the cuticle of Acropyga species are suggestive of a completely subterranean existence. Species also display photophobic behavior (Weber, 1944; LaPolla et al., 2002). Acropyga can survive in a wide range of habitats, from deserts to rainforests, though they do not seem able to survive in regions where temperatures below freezing persist for several months at a time. Some species, such as Acropyga pallida and Acropyga silvestrii for example, are found within a very wide range of habitats. Undoubtedly, the Acropyga lifestyle of existing below the surface buffers them against extremes of the outside environment.

Acropyga nests are found in leaf litter, under stones, in rotten wood (lying on or near the soil surface) and in the soil. Observations of nests of various species show the nests are large, consisting of at least several thousand individuals. The nest structure is diffuse with apparently no central nesting location (LaPolla et al., 2002). Tunnels and indistinct chambers stretch out over large areas through the nesting medium. Polygyny has been suggested for several species. The origins of polygyny remains uncertain, but two routes are suggested based on field observations. Biinzli (1935) found both the occurrence of pleometrosis (founding of a colony by multiple queens) and the acquisition of young queens by established colonies in Acropyga exsanguis.

All Acropyga are thought to be hypogaeic (living entirely underground), surviving primarily by "tending" mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on underground roots for their exudate (sometimes referred to as "honeydew") (Weber, 1944; Williams, 1998). This mutually beneficial relationship is called trophobiosis (Holldobler and Wilson, 1990).

Acropyga species are all believed to be obligate coccidophiles (dependent on their tended mealybugs for survival). The strength of this trophophitic relationship is clarified by a number of observations. Queens of eleven species have been observed emerging from their nests prior to their mating flight with a mealybug held in their mandibles (Biinzli, 1935; Wheeler, 1935b; Brown, 1945; Eberhard, 1978; Prins, 1982; Buschinger et al., 1987; Williams, 1998; Johnson et al., 2001). The mealybug that each queen carries presumably serves as a "seed individual" from which a new generation of mealybugs will be started in the newly founded ant colony (Weber, 1944; Williams, 1998). This behavior is called trophophoresy (LaPolla et al. 2002) with queens exhibiting this behavior said to be trophophoretic. The mealybugs utilized by Acropyga belong to the subfamily Rhizoecinae, and it is likely that the mealybugs are not able to survive independently of the ants (Williams, 1998). LaPolla et al. (2002) observed that Acropyga epedana keeps mealybugs with their brood. When a nest in captivity was starved, workers refused a variety of food items presented to them, suggestiving that the ants are completely dependent on the mealybugs as a food source. Fossil evidence suggests that the trophobiotic behavior ofAcropyga ants is an ancient one. Johnson et al. (2001) reported that Acropyga queens were discovered in Dominican amber, either holding a mealybug or with a mealybug nearby in the amber matrix. The amber was dated to the Miocene and is at least 15-20 million years old. ‎

Castes

Known only from males.

Images from AntWeb

Acropyga dubitata casent0911126 p 2 high.jpgAcropyga dubitata casent0911126 p 3 high.jpg
Paratype of Acropyga dubitataMale (alate). Specimen code casent0911126. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

This species is only known from males.

Phylogeny

Acropyga

Acropyga ayanganna

Acropyga donisthorpei

Acropyga panamensis

Acropyga guianensis

Acropyga stenotes

Acropyga fuhrmanni

Acropyga smithii

Acropyga romeo

Acropyga hirsutula

Acropyga dubitata

Acropyga decedens, Acropyga goeldii

Acropyga epedana

Acropyga arnoldi

Acropyga silvestrii

Acropyga kinomurai

Acropyga lauta

Acropyga sauteri

Acropyga acutiventris

Acropyga myops

Acropyga butteli

Acropyga ambigua

Acropyga pallida

Based on Blaimer et al., 2016. Note only selected Acropyga species are included, and undescribed species are excluded.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • dubitata. Rhizomyrma dubitata Wheeler, W.M. & Mann, 1914: 47 (m.) DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
    • [Misspelled as dubita by Donisthorpe, 1936b: 110 (in list).]
    • Combination in Acropyga (Rhizomyrma): Emery, 1925b: 29.
    • Status as species: Emery, 1925b: 29; Donisthorpe, 1936b: 110 (in list); Weber, 1944: 98 (redescription); Kempf, 1972a: 17; Bolton, 1995b: 57; LaPolla, 2004a: 45 (redescription); Lubertazzi, 2019: 67.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Male

Length 2 mm.

Very similar to the male of Acropyga. Head a little broader than long, subrectangular. Eyes rather small, less than half as long as the sides of the head. Mandibles slender, distinctly tridentate. Clypeus convex and almost carinate in the middle, with entire, rounded anterior border. Antennae with long scapes, which reach well beyond the posterior corners of the head; first funicular joint globular, as broad as long, joints 2-7 a little broader than long, remaining joints longer. Thorax robust but not much broader than the head through the eyes. Mesonotum convex in front, slightly overarching the pronotum; scutellum not convex; epinotum rounded, sloping, without distinct base and declivity. Petiole with erect node, which is rather thick though compressed anteroposteriorly, with a blunt, rounded, entire border. Its anterior face in profile is slightly convex, its posterior face more flattened. Gaster rather short and stout; external genital valves large, with broad. bluntly bidentate tips; inner valves shorter, uneiform. Wings rather large, like those of Acropyga with one cubital cell, no discoidal cell and the radial cell closed.

Body shining throughout and very finely shagreened.

Hairs pale, erect, absent on the thorax and anterodorsal portion of the gaster, conspicuous on the petiole, venter and genitalia. Pubescence whitish, fine and rather dense, but not concealing the shining surface.

Yellow throughout; appendages scarcely paler; only tho ocellar triangle blackish or fuscous. In some specimens the body is very slightly tinged with brown. Wings yellowish gray, with colorless veins and stigma.

Measurements (LaPolla 2004): Males (n=7): TL: 1.67-2.35; HW: 0.403-0.482; HL: 0.404-0.487; SL: 0.33-0.43; ML: 0.716-0.912; GL: 0.546-0.962; CI: 91.3-101.69; SI: 81.89-92.0.

Type Material

Described from numerous specimens taken by Mr. Aug. Busck in the San Francisco Mts. of San Domingo.

LaPolla (2004) examined types from the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Museum of Comparative Zoology and National Museum of Natural History and designated a lectotype MZCZ male specimen labeled JSL TYPE # 117. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: St. Domingo; San Francisco Mountains, 14 September 1905.

References

  • Biinzli, G.H. 1935. Untersuchungen iiber coccidophile Ameisen aus den Kaffeefelden von Surinam. Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 16:455-593.
  • Brown, W.L., Jr. 1945. An unusual behavior pattern observed in a Szechuanese ant. Journal of the West China Border Research Society 15:185-186.
  • Buschinger, J., J. Heinze & K. Jessen. 1987. First European record ofa queen ant carrying a mealybug during her mating flight. NatUlwissenschaften 74:139-140.
  • Eberhard, W.G. 1978. Mating swarms ofa South American Acropygia [sic.] (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomological News 89(1 & 2):14-16.
  • Eisner, T. 1957. A comparative morphological study ofthc proventriculus of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bulletin ofthe Museum of Comparative Zoology 116:439-490.
  • Emery, C. 1925d. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Formicinae. Genera Insectorum 183: 1-302 (page 29, Combination in Acropyga (Rhizomyrma))
  • Holldobler B . & E.O. Wilson. 1990. The Ants. Belknap Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 732 pp.
  • Johnson, c., D. Agosti, J.H. Delabie, K. Dumpert, OJ. Williams, M. von Tschimhaus & U. Maschwitz. 2001 . Acropyga and Azteca Ants with Scale Insects: 20 Million Years ofIntimate Symbiosis. American Museum Noviates 3335:1-18.
  • LaPolla, J.S. 2004a. Acropyga of the world. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute. 33(3):1-130. (page 45, male described)
  • LaPolla, J.S., S.P. Cover & U.G. Mueller. 2002. Natural history of the mealybug-tending ant Acropyga epedana, with descriptions of the male and queen castes. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 128(3):367-376.
  • Lubertazzi, D. 2019. The ants of Hispaniola. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 162(2), 59-210 (doi:10.3099/mcz-43.1).
  • Prins, AJ. 1982. Review of Anoplolepis with reference to male genitalia, and notes on Acropyga. Annals of the South African Museum 89:215-247.
  • Weber, N.A. 1944. The Neotropical coccid-tending ants of the genus Acropyga Roger. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 37:89-122.
  • Wheeler, G.C. & J.C. Wheeler. 1953. The ant larvae of the subfamily Formicinae. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 46:126-171.
  • Wheeler, W. M.; Mann, W. M. 1914. The ants of Haiti. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 33: 1-61 (page 47, male described)
  • Wheeler, W.M. 1935b. Ants of the genus Acropyga Roger, with description ofa new species. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 43:321-329.
  • Williams, D J . 1998. Mealybugs of the genera Eumyrmococcus Silvestri and Xenococcus Silvestri associated with the ant genus Acropyga Roger and a review of the subfamily (Hemiptera, Coccoidea, Pseudoccidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)(Entomology) 67:1-64.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • LaPolla J.S. 2004. Acropyga (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the world. Contributions of the American Entomological Institute 33(3): 1-130.
  • Perez-Gelabert D. E. 2008. Arthropods of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti): A checklist and bibliography. Zootaxa 1831:1-530.
  • Weber N. A. 1944. The neotropical coccid-tending ants of the genus Acropyga Roger. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 37: 89-122.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1935f. Ants of the genus Acropyga Roger, with description of a new species. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 43:321-329.
  • Wheeler W. M., and W. M. Mann. 1914. The ants of Haiti. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 33: 1-61.