Apterostigma robustum

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Apterostigma robustum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Apterostigma
Species: A. robustum
Binomial name
Apterostigma robustum
Emery, 1896

Apterostigma robustum casent0613713 p 1 high.jpg

Apterostigma robustum casent0613713 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Synonyms

Identification

Mera-Rodriguez, et al. (2020) - Frontal lobes with each lateral margin convex and strongly curved ventrally; anterior margin of clypeus uniformly convex; mandible with 11 teeth that increase gradually in size towards the apical tooth; and propodeum in lateral view gradually higher than the metanotum (Lattke 1997).

Distribution

Mera-Rodriguez, et al. (2020) - Apterostigma robustum is distributed from Honduras in Central America south to Bolivia and Brazil, where it occurs in the states of Amazonas, Maranhão, and Pará (Kempf 1972; Lattke 1997; Fernández and Sendoya 2004).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 13.7695434° to -9.616666667°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica (type locality), French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Peru, Suriname.

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 Fungus Growing 
For additional details see Fungus growing ants.

A handful of ant species (approx. 275 out of the known 15,000 species) have developed the ability to cultivate fungus within their nests. In most species the fungus is used as the sole food source for the larvae and is an important resource for the adults as well. Additionally, in a limited number of cases, the fungus is used to construct part of the nest structure but is not as a food source.

These fungus-feeding species are limited to North and South America, extending from the pine barrens of New Jersey, United States, in the north (Trachymyrmex septentrionalis) to the cold deserts in Argentina in the south (several species of Acromyrmex). Species that use fungi in nest construction are known from Europe and Africa (a few species in the genera Crematogaster, Lasius).


The details of fungal cultivation are rich and complex. First, a wide variety of materials are used as substrate for fungus cultivating. The so-called lower genera include species that prefer dead vegetation, seeds, flowers, fruits, insect corpses, and feces, which are collected in the vicinity of their nests. The higher genera include non leaf-cutting species that collect mostly fallen leaflets, fruit, and flowers, as well as the leafcutters that collect fresh leaves from shrubs and trees. Second, while the majority of fungi that are farmed by fungus-feeding ants belong to the family Lepiotaceae, mostly the genera Leucoagaricus and Leucocoprinus, other fungi are also involved. Some species utilise fungi in the family Tricholomataceae while a few others cultivate yeast. The fungi used by the higher genera no longer produce spores. Their fungi produce nutritious and swollen hyphal tips (gongylidia) that grow in bundles called staphylae, to specifically feed the ants. Finally, colony size varies tremendously among these ants. Lower taxa mostly live in inconspicuous nests with 100–1000 individuals and relatively small fungus gardens. Higher taxa, in contrast, live in colonies made of 5–10 million ants that live and work within hundreds of interconnected fungus-bearing chambers in huge subterranean nests. Some colonies are so large, they can be seen from satellite photos, measuring up to 600 m3.

Based on these habits, and taking phylogenetic information into consideration, these ants can be divided into six biologically distinct agricultural systems (with a list of genera involved in each category):

Nest Construction

A limited number of species that use fungi in the construction of their nests.

Lower Agriculture

Practiced by species in the majority of fungus-feeding genera, including those thought to retain more primitive features, which cultivate a wide range of fungal species in the tribe Leucocoprineae.

Coral Fungus Agriculture

Practiced by species in the Apterostigma pilosum species-group, which cultivate fungi within the Pterulaceae.

Yeast Agriculture

Practiced by species within the Cyphomyrmex rimosus species-group, which cultivate a distinct clade of leucocoprineaceous fungi derived from the lower attine fungi.

Generalized Higher Agriculture

Practiced by species in several genera of non-leaf-cutting "higher attine" ants, which cultivate a distinct clade of leucocoprineaceous fungi separately derived from the lower attine fungi.

Leaf-Cutter Agriculture

A subdivision of higher attine agriculture practiced by species within several ecologically dominant genera, which cultivate a single highly derived species of higher attine fungus.

Note that the farming habits of Mycetagroicus (4 species) are unknown. Also, while species of Pseudoatta (2 species) are closely related to the fungus-feeding genus Acromyrmex, they are social parasites, living in the nests of their hosts and are not actively involved in fungus growing. ‎

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Apterostigma robustum casent0619659 p 1 high.jpgApterostigma robustum casent0619659 d 1 high.jpgApterostigma robustum casent0619659 h 1 high.jpgApterostigma robustum casent0619659 l 1 high.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0619659. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by Rabeling.
Apterostigma robustum casent0904977 d 1 high.jpgApterostigma robustum casent0904977 h 1 high.jpgApterostigma robustum casent0904977 p 1 high.jpgApterostigma robustum casent0904977 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Apterostigma robustumWorker. Specimen code casent0904977. Photographer Z. Lieberman, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MSNG, Genoa, Italy.

Nomenclature

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

  • robustum. Apterostigma robustum Emery, 1896g: 98, pl. 1, fig. 17 (w.) COSTA RICA.
    • Lattke, 1997: 168 (m.).
    • Status as species: Forel, 1899c: 38; Wheeler, W.M. 1911h: 208 (in key); Emery, 1924d: 338; Weber, 1938b: 170; Weber, 1958c: 249; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167 (redescription); Guénard & Economo, 2015: 227; Fernández & Serna, 2019: 839.
    • Senior synonym of amiae: Weber, 1958c: 249; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.
    • Senior synonym of branneri: Weber, 1958c: 249; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.
    • Senior synonym of constrictum: Weber, 1958c: 250; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.
    • Senior synonym of tic: Weber, 1958c: 250; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.
  • amiae. Apterostigma amiae Weber, 1937: 391 (w.) GUYANA.
    • Status as species: Weber, 1946b: 132.
    • Junior synonym of robustum: Weber, 1958c: 249; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.
  • branneri. Apterostigma branneri Mann, 1916: 456, pl. 5, fig. 37 (w.q.m.) BRAZIL (Rondônia).
    • Status as species: Emery, 1924d: 338; Borgmeier, 1927c: 124.
    • Junior synonym of robustum: Weber, 1958c: 249; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.
  • constrictum. Apterostigma robustum subsp. constrictum Weber, 1938b: 173 (w.q.m.) BOLIVIA.
    • Junior synonym of robustum: Weber, 1958c: 250; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.
  • tic. Apterostigma robustum subsp. tic Weber, 1938b: 170, fig. 7 (w.q.m.) COSTA RICA.
    • Junior synonym of robustum: Weber, 1958c: 250; Kempf, 1972a: 24; Bolton, 1995b: 74; Lattke, 1997: 167.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Emery C. 1896. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bullettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 28: 33-107.
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Franco W., N. Ladino, J. H. C. Delabie, A. Dejean, J. Orivel, M. Fichaux, S. Groc, M. Leponce, and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674(5): 509-543.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Kusnezov N. 1953. La fauna mirmecológica de Bolivia. Folia Universitaria. Cochabamba 6: 211-229.
  • Lattke J. E. 1997. Revisión del género Apterostigma Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arquivos do Instituto Biológico (São Paulo) 34: 121-221
  • Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Honduras. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-honduras
  • Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Nicargua. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-nicaragua
  • Longino J. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.
  • Mayhe-Nunes A. J., and K. Jaffe. 1998. On the biogeography of attini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ecotropicos 11(1): 45-54.
  • Pires de Prado L., R. M. Feitosa, S. Pinzon Triana, J. A. Munoz Gutierrez, G. X. Rousseau, R. Alves Silva, G. M. Siqueira, C. L. Caldas dos Santos, F. Veras Silva, T. Sanches Ranzani da Silva, A. Casadei-Ferreira, R. Rosa da Silva, and J. Andrade-Silva. 2019. An overview of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the state of Maranhao, Brazil. Pap. Avulsos Zool. 59: e20195938.
  • Weber N. A. 1937. The biology of the fungus-growing ants. Part l. New forms. Rev. Entomol. (Rio J.) 7: 378-409.
  • Weber N. A. 1938. The biology of the fungus-growing ants. Part IV. Additional new forms. Part V. The Attini of Bolivia. Rev. Entomol. (Rio J.) 9: 154-206.
  • Weber N. A. 1946. The biology of the fungus-growing ants. Part IX. The British Guiana species. Revista de Entomologia (Rio de Janeiro) 17: 114-172.
  • Weber N. A. 1958. Synonymies and types of Apterostigma (Hym: Formicidae). Entomological News 69: 243-251.