Strumigenys nevermanni

Strumigenys nevermanni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Strumigenys
Species:	S. nevermanni
Binomial name
	Strumigenys nevermanni; Brown, 1959 Specimen labels

In Costa Rica, nevermanni occurs in wet forest habitats. It nests and forages in the low arboreal zone and in some cases in litter on the forest floor. The lone USA record is curious. I was collecting from cynipid oak galls near Austin, Texas, many of which were inhabited by nests of Colobopsis etiolata and Camponotus discolor. In one nest of C. discolor, I also found three workers of S. nevermanni. (Longino, Ants of Costa Rica)

Identification

Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys emeryi-group. S. nevermanni should not be confused with any other member of the group. The narrow concave propodeal lamella, extremely reduced but still obvious spongiform strip ventrally on the petiole and the smooth postpetiole form a combination that identifies the species. It is similar to Strumigenys micretes but that species, apart from having a broad propodeal lamella and deep spongiform curtain on the petiole, has distinctly longer scapes (SI 96-102) and usually a narrower head (CI 69-75).

This is the only species of the group so far recorded from the U.S.A., although others are known from Mexico. Whether it is a naturalised species or must be regarded as a casual introduction in the U.S.A. remains to be seen. The variation of gastral pilosity is interesting. Very few individuals have it entirely flagellate, in fact most samples show very few or even no flagellate hairs on the first tergite. The fact that a few samples occur that show a mixture of both forms of hair, in varying amounts, indicates that only a single species is represented.

Longino (Ants of Costa Rica) - Apical fork of mandible with one intercalary tooth; mandible with acute preapical tooth very close to apical fork, and sometimes a minute denticle near the apical third of mandible length; gaster smooth and shining, with setae stiff, straight, slightly thickened.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 18.60821° to 8.6791°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States.
Neotropical Region: Costa Rica (type locality), Honduras, Mexico.

Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

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.

Biology

Castes

Nomenclature

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

nevermanni. Strumigenys nevermanni Brown, 1959a: 99 (w.q.) COSTA RICA. See also: Bolton, 2000: 517.

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

Description

Worker

Brown 1962. Figure 3.

Bolton (2000) - TL 2.3-2.6, HL 0.56-0.64, HW 0.44-0.52, CI 75-80, ML 0.32-0.36, MI 56-60, SL 0.36-0.42, SI 79-86, PW 0.27-0.33, AL 0.58-0.68 (9 measured).

Mandible with a small preapical tooth close to the apicodorsal tooth. Proximally the mandible is usually edentate but in some an additional minute denticle is present. Both pairs of standing hairs on cephalic dorsum stiff, simple to spatulate. Apicoscrobal hair and pronotal humeral hair flagellate; a flagellate pair present on mesonotum. Standing hairs on first gastral tergite varying from mostly simple to mainly subflagellate or flagellate; sometimes all hairs similar but frequently a mixture present. Pronotal dorsum reticulate-punctate and with weak rugulose or costulate sculpture; intensity of each component variable. Mesopleuron and at least part of metapleuron smooth. Propodeum with a pair of stout triangular teeth or short spines, subtended by a narrow lamella whose posterior (free) margin is concave down the declivity. Propodeal lacuna vestigial. Ventral surface of petiole with a very shallow spongiform strip that, at the midlength of the peduncle, is merely carinate or at most only a fraction (much less than half) of the depth of the peduncle. Petiole node in dorsal view broader than long and reticulate-punctate. Disc of postpetiole mostly or entirely smooth. In profile lateral spongiform appendage of postpetiole a broadly triangular lobe; ventral spongiform lobe larger, at least equal to the area of exposed cuticle of the disc.

Type Material

Bolton (2000) - Holotype worker, paratype workers and queen, COSTA RICA: Hondura, 1050 m., 20.vi.1926 (F. Nevermann) (National Museum of Natural History, Museum of Comparative Zoology) [examined].

References

Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. 65:1-1028.
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1959. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: group of emeryi Mann. Entomological News. 70:97-104. (page 99, worker, queen described)
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1962c. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: synopsis and keys to the species. Psyche. 69:238-267.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
Branstetter M. G. and L. Sáenz. 2012. Las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Guatemala. Pp. 221-268 in: Cano E. B. and J. C. Schuster. (eds.) 2012. Biodiversidad de Guatemala. Volumen 2. Guatemala: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, iv + 328 pp
Brown W. L. Jr. 1962. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: synopsis and keys to the species. Psyche (Cambridge) 69: 238-267.
Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
INBio Collection (via Gbif)
Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
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. L., and M. G. Branstetter. 2018. The truncated bell: an enigmatic but pervasive elevational diversity pattern in Middle American ants. Ecography 41: 1-12.
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.
Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
Maes, J.-M. and W.P. MacKay. 1993. Catalogo de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Nicaragua. Revista Nicaraguense de Entomologia 23.
Rocha-Ortega M., and M. E. Favila. 2013. The recovery of ground ant diversity in secondary Lacandon tropical forests. Journal of Insect Conservation 17(6): 1161-1167.