Acromyrmex nigrosetosus

Acromyrmex nigrosetosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Acromyrmex
Species:	A. nigrosetosus
Binomial name
Acromyrmex nigrosetosus (Forel, 1908) Specimen labels
Synonyms
Acromyrmex laticeps garbei Santschi, 1925 Acromyrmex nigrosetosa pulchella Santschi, 1925 Atta aspersa dimidiata Forel, 1911

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 3.166666667° to -30.1197°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (type locality), Paraguay.

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

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. some Crematogaster some Lasius 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. some Apterostigma Cyatta (1 species) some Cyphomyrmex Kalathomyrmex (1 species) Mycocepurus (6 species) Myrmicocrypta (31 species) Mycetarotes (4 species) Mycetosoritis (2 species) Mycetophylax (21 species) Paramycetophylax (1 species) Xerolitor (1 species) Coral Fungus Agriculture Practiced by species in the Apterostigma pilosum species-group, which cultivate fungi within the Pterulaceae. some Apterostigma 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. some Cyphomyrmex 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. Mycetomoellerius (31 species) Paratrachymyrmex (9 species) Sericomyrmex (11 species) Trachymyrmex (9 species) 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. Acromyrmex (56 species) Amoimyrmex (3 species) Atta (20 species) 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

Worker. Specimen code casent0173801. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ALWC, Alex L. Wild Collection.

Nomenclature

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

• nigrosetosus. Atta (Acromyrmex) nigrosetosa Forel, 1908c: 350 (s.w.) BRAZIL (São Paulo).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-localities: Brazil: São Paulo (H. von Ihering), Brazil: São Paulo, Ypiranga (H. von Ihering).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • Santschi, 1922b: 361 (q.).
  • Combination in Acromyrmex: Mann, 1916: 454.
  • Subspecies of laticeps: Santschi, 1925a: 382; Borgmeier, 1927c: 132; Weber, 1938b: 204; Gonçalves, 1961: 146; Kempf, 1972a: 12; Bolton, 1995b: 56.
  • Status as species: Forel, 1911c: 290; Forel, 1912e: 181; Mann, 1916: 454; Santschi, 1922b: 361; Emery, 1924d: 350; Wild, 2007b: 30.
  • Senior synonym of dimidiata: Gonçalves, 1961: 146; Kempf, 1972a: 12; Bolton, 1995b: 56.
  • Senior synonym of garbei: Gonçalves, 1961: 146; Kempf, 1972a: 13; Bolton, 1995b: 56.
  • Senior synonym of pulchella: Gonçalves, 1961: 146; Kempf, 1972a: 13; Bolton, 1995b: 56.
  • Distribution: Brazil, Paraguay.
• dimidiata. Atta (Acromyrmex) aspersa subsp. dimidiata Forel, 1911c: 292 (w.) BRAZIL (São Paulo).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Brazil: São Paulo, Ypiranga (H. Lüderwaldt).
  • Type-depository: MHNG.
  • Combination in Acromyrmex: Emery, 1924d: 348.
  • Subspecies of aspersus: Luederwaldt, 1918: 38; Emery, 1924d: 348.
  • Subspecies of laticeps: Santschi, 1925a: 392 (in key); Borgmeier, 1927c: 132.
  • Junior synonym of nigrosetosus: Gonçalves, 1961: 146; Kempf, 1972a: 12; Bolton, 1995b: 55.
• garbei. Acromyrmex laticeps st. garbei Santschi, 1925a: 381 (w.) BRAZIL (Mato Grosso).
  • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
  • Type-locality: Brazil: Mato Grosso, San Luis (E. Garbe).
  • Type-depository: NHMB.
  • [Also described as new, as subspecies of nigrosetosus, by Santschi, 1925b: 18.]
  • Subspecies of laticeps: Borgmeier, 1927c: 132.
  • Junior synonym of nigrosetosus: Gonçalves, 1961: 146; Kempf, 1972a: 13; Bolton, 1995b: 55.
• pulchella. Acromyrmex nigrosetosa st. pulchella Santschi, 1925b: 18 (w.) BRAZIL (Minas Gerais).
  • Type-material: 14 syntype workers.
  • Type-locality: Brazil: Minas Gerais, Pirapora (E. Garbe).
  • Type-depository: NHMB.
  • As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Santschi, 1925a: 383; Borgmeier, 1927c: 133.
  • Junior synonym of nigrosetosus: Gonçalves, 1961: 146; Kempf, 1972a: 13; Bolton, 1995b: 56.

Description

Karyotype

• See additional details at the Ant Chromosome Database.

 Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

• 2n = 38, karyotype = 12M + 14SM + 10ST + 2A (Brazil) (de Castro et al., 2020).

References

• Gonçalves, C. R. 1961. O genero Acromyrmex no Brasil (Hym. Formicidae). Stud. Entomol. 4: 113-180.
• Mann, W. M. 1916. The Stanford Expedition to Brazil, 1911, John C. Branner, Director. The ants of Brazil. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 60: 399-490.

• Albuquerque, E., Prado, L., Andrade-Silva, J., Siqueira, E., Sampaio, K., Alves, D., Brandão, C., Andrade, P., Feitosa, R., Koch, E., Delabie, J., Fernandes, I., Baccaro, F., Souza, J., Almeida, R., Silva, R. 2021. Ants of the State of Pará, Brazil: a historical and comprehensive dataset of a key biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon Basin. Zootaxa 5001, 1–83 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5001.1.1).
• Barros, L.A.C., Aguiar, H.J.A.C., Teixeira, G.C., Souza, D.J., Delabie, J.H.C., Mariano, C.S.F. 2021. Cytogenetic studies on the social parasite Acromyrmex ameliae (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini) and its hosts reveal chromosome fusion in Acromyrmex. Zoologischer Anzeiger 293, 273–281 (doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2021.06.012).
• Cardoso, D. C., Cristiano, M. P. 2021. Karyotype diversity, mode, and tempo of the chromosomal evolution of Attina (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini): Is there an upper limit to chromosome number? Insects 1212, 1084 (doi:10.3390/insects12121084).
• de Castro, C.P.M., Cardoso, D.C., Micolino, R., Cristiano, M.P. 2020. Comparative FISH-mapping of TTAGG telomeric sequences to the chromosomes of leafcutter ants (Formicidae, Myrmicinae): is the insect canonical sequence conserved? Comparative Cytogenetics 14(3): 369–385 (doi:10.3897/CompCytogen.v14i3.52726).
• Moura, M.N., Cardoso, D.C., Cristiano, M.P. 2020. The tight genome size of ants: diversity and evolution under ancestral state reconstruction and base composition. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, zlaa135 (doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa135).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
• Forel A. 1908. Ameisen aus Sao Paulo (Brasilien), Paraguay etc. gesammelt von Prof. Herm. v. Ihering, Dr. Lutz, Dr. Fiebrig, etc. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 58: 340-418.
• Forel A. 1911. Ameisen des Herrn Prof. v. Ihering aus Brasilien (Sao Paulo usw.) nebst einigen anderen aus Südamerika und Afrika (Hym.). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 1911: 285-312.
• Forel A. 1912. Formicides néotropiques. Part II. 3me sous-famille Myrmicinae Lep. (Attini, Dacetii, Cryptocerini). Mémoires de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 19: 179-209.
• Gonçalves C. R. 1961. O genero Acromyrmex no Brasil (Hym. Formicidae). Stud. Entomol. 4: 113-180.
• Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
• Klingenberg, C. and C.R.F. Brandao. 2005. The type specimens of fungus growing ants, Attini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia 45(4):41-50
• Kusnezov N. 1953. La fauna mirmecológica de Bolivia. Folia Universitaria. Cochabamba 6: 211-229.
• Luederwaldt H. 1918. Notas myrmecologicas. Rev. Mus. Paul. 10: 29-64.
• 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.
• Rosa da Silva R. 1999. Formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) do oeste de Santa Catarina: historico das coletas e lista atualizada das especies do Estado de Santa Catarina. Biotemas 12(2): 75-100.
• Santschi F. 1922. Myrmicines, dolichodérines et autres formicides néotropiques. Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles 54: 345-378.
• Santschi F. 1925. Nouvelles fourmis brésiliennes. Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 64: 5-20.
• Santschi F. 1925. Revision du genre Acromyrmex Mayr. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 31: 355-398.
• Ulloa Chacon P., M. L. Baena, J. Bustos, R. C. Aldana, J. A. Aldana, and M. A. Gamboa. 1996. Fauna de hormigas del departamento del Valle del Cauca (Colombia). Pp. 413-451. In Andrade-C M. G., G. Amat Garcia, and F. Fernandez. Insectoss de Colombia, estudios escogidos.
• Wild, A. L. "A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Zootaxa 1622 (2007): 1-55.