Crematogaster laeviceps

Crematogaster laeviceps
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Crematogaster
Species:	C. laeviceps
Binomial name
	Crematogaster laeviceps; Smith, F., 1858 Specimen Labels
Synonyms
	Crematogaster laeviceps broomensis Forel, 1915; Crematogaster laeviceps chasei Forel, 1902;

Crematogaster laeviceps is the most common species of Crematogaster found in the southwest of Western Australia. It nests arboreally and is ubiquitous in nearly all environments (Heterick, 2009).

Wheeler (1934) collected many workers and queens of this ant near Government House, on Rottnest Island, under bark of large Callitris robustai trees and running in files on their trunks, near White Hill, under stones, near Longreach Bay, under stones, and Serpentine Lake, on the trunks of wattles and nesting under their bark.

Photo Gallery

This worker was found on the trunk of a Eucalyptus accedans, or Powderbark tree, in Lupton Conservation Reserve, Brookton, Western Australia, returning to her nest with a prey item. Photo by Farhan Bokhari.
A worker on a Eucalyptus accedans trunk in Lupton Conservation Reserve, Brookton, Western Australia. Photo by Farhan Bokhari.

Identification

A member of the Crematogaster rogenhoferi group.

Keys including this Species

Key to Crematogaster of the southwestern Australian Botanical Province

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: -13.766° to -37.23333333°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: Australia (type locality).

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.

laeviceps. Crematogaster laeviceps Smith, F. 1858b: 138 (w.q.) AUSTRALIA (Victoria).
- Type-material: 1 syntype worker, 1 syntype queen (damaged).
- [Note: Smith says “A mutilated specimen of a female was received with the worker”.]
- Type-locality: Australia: Melbourne (no collector’s name).
- Type-depository: BMNH.
- [Misspelled as leviceps by Roger, 1863b: 37, Dalla Torre, 1893: 83, and others.]
- Combination in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 152;
- combination in C. (Crematogaster): Bolton, 1995b: 166.
- Status as species: Mayr, 1863: 404; Roger, 1863b: 37; Mayr, 1876: 107 (in key); Dalla Torre, 1893: 83; Forel, 1902h: 413; Forel, 1907a: 25; Forel, 1915b: 55; Emery, 1922e: 152; Clark, 1938: 366; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 61; Taylor, 1987a: 23; Bolton, 1995b: 155; Heterick, 2009: 148.
- Senior synonym of broomensis: Heterick, 2021: 12.
- Senior synonym of chasei: Heterick, 2021: 12.
- Distribution: Australia.
broomensis. Crematogaster leviceps var. broomensis Forel, 1915b: 56 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
- Type-localities: Australia: NW Australia, Broome (E. Mjöberg), 1 worker NW Australia, Derby (E. Mjöberg).
- Type-depository: MHNG (perhaps also NHRS).
- Subspecies of laeviceps: Taylor & Brown, 1985: 61; Taylor, 1987a: 23; Bolton, 1995b: 149.
- Junior synonym of laeviceps: Heterick, 2021: 12.
chasei. Crematogaster laeviceps var. chasei Forel, 1902h: 413 (w.) AUSTRALIA (Western Australia).
- Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
- Type-locality: Australia: Western Australia, Perth (Chase).
- Type-depositories: ANIC, MHNG.
- Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 144 (q.m.).
- Combination in C. (Acrocoelia): Emery, 1922e: 152.
- Subspecies of laeviceps: Forel, 1907h: 279; Forel, 1915b: 55; Emery, 1922e: 152; Wheeler, W.M. 1934d: 144; Clark, 1938: 366; Taylor & Brown, 1985: 61; Taylor, 1987a: 23; Bolton, 1995b: 150; Heterick, 2009: 148.
- Junior synonym of laeviceps: Heterick, 2021: 12.

Type Material

Crematogaster laeviceps: Syntype, worker(s), queen(s), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, The Natural History Museum.
Cremastogaster laeviceps broomensis: Syntype, worker(s) (probable), Broome, Western Australia, Australia, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève.
Cremastogaster laeviceps broomensis: Syntype, 1 worker, Broome, Western Australia, Australia, Museum Victoria, Melbourne.
Cremastogaster laeviceps chasei: Syntype, 1 worker, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, Australian National Insect Collection.

Taxonomic Notes

Heterick (2021): Crematogaster laeviceps broomensis appears to represent no more than an ergatoid of C. laeviceps with vestigial ocelli and an indentation that represents the pronotal suture, whereas the AntWeb image of the C. laeviceps syntype is smoother and shinier and lacks the promesonotal sculpture and hint of a suture. This feature seems to vary with size and possibly also with populations. The AntWeb imaged type specimen of Crematogaster laeviceps chasei, despite Forel’s comments, is indistinguishable from the ant bearing the senior name. Crematogaster laeviceps chasei and C. laeviceps broomensis become junior synonyms under C. laeviceps in this work.

Description

References

Emery, C. 1922c. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [part]. Genera Insectorum 174B: 95-206 (page 152, Combination in C. (Acrocoelia))
Heterick, B.E. 2021. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part I: Systematics. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 86, 1-245 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2021.001-245).
Heterick, B.E. 2022. A guide to the ants of Western Australia. Part II: Distribution and biology. Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement 86: 247-510 (doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.86.2022.247-510).
Hoffmann, B., Eldridge, J., Marston, C. 2023. The first eradication of an exotic ant species from the entirety of Australia: Pheidole fervens. Management of Biological Invasions, 14(4), 619–624 (doi:10.3391/mbi.2023.14.4.03).
Smith, F. 1858b. Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part VI. Formicidae. London: British Museum, 216 pp. (page 138, worker described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

Andersen A. N., T. D. Penman, N. Debas, and M. Houadria. 2009. Ant community responses to experimental fire and logging in a Eucalypt forest of south-eastern Australia. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 188-197.
Clark J. 1938. The Sir Joseph Banks Islands. Reports of the McCoy Society for Field Investigation and Research. Part 10. Formicidae (Hymenoptera). Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria (n.s.)50: 356-382.
Forel A. 1893. Nouvelles fourmis d'Australie et des Canaries. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 37: 454-466.
Nooten S. S., P. Schultheiss, R. C. Rowe, S. L. Facey, and J. M. Cook. Habitat complexity affects functional traits and diversity of ant assemblages in urban green spaces (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 29: 67-77.