Crematogaster moelleri

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Crematogaster moelleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Crematogaster
Species: C. moelleri
Binomial name
Crematogaster moelleri
Forel, 1912

Crematogaster moelleri casent0908399 p 1 high.jpg

Crematogaster moelleri casent0908399 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Crematogaster moelleri inhabits montane moist to wet forest habitats in Costa Rica. It is known from few collections. In the Monteverde community area, near the continental divide in the Cordillera de Tilarán, I observed workers foraging on a tree trunk in a garden area. Suzanne Koptur collected workers twice from extrafloral nectaries of Inga trees. At 1000m elevation on the Atlantic slope of the Cordillera Volcanica Central, in the Zona Protectora of Braulio Carrillo National Park, the ALAS project collected workers in one Malaise trap and an alate queen in another. (Longino 2003)

Identification

Longino (2003) - This species shares most of the characters of Crematogaster crinosa relatives (face with sparse erect setae over short appressed pubescence, sparse erect setae on mesosomal dorsum, short upturned propodeal spines) but differs in the presence of long flexuous rather than short stiff setae on the mesosomal dorsum. Similar Costa Rican species are crinosa, Crematogaster torosa, Crematogaster rochai, and Crematogaster erecta. The flexuous dorsal setae differentiate it from the first three. Crematogaster erecta has flexuous setae on the pronotal humeri but the other dorsal setae are short and stiff. Also, erecta has a general habitus difference: the propodeal spines are a bit thinner and longer and the size polymorphism less pronounced.

I examined the MHNG syntypes of moelleri long before seeing the Costa Rican material, and made these notes: “This series is similar to crinosa but has erecta tendencies. The pilosity is very like erecta, with long flexuous hairs on head and humeri, hairs on fourth abdominal tergite long but stiff, underlying pubescence long and suberect. The scapes are relatively short, like crinosa, failing to reach vertex margin. The propodeal spine is short and upturned, more like crinosa than erecta. Strong petiolar tooth. Variable in size (more like crinosa) and red-brown color (fading due to age, or more reddish in life?). There are the faintest traces of metanotal tooth where the carinae extend onto propodeum (also present on some crinosa.) Overall, most like a very hairy crinosa.” This matches closely the above description from Costa Rican material. It remains to be seen whether the concordance in morphology represents convergence due to shared environmental conditions or shared phylogenetic history.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 10.3° to -28.93333333°.

   
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil (type locality), Costa Rica.

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

Longino (2003) - When I observed moelleri in the field in Monteverde it looked and acted like typical crinosa group species such as Crematogaster crinosa or Crematogaster torosa, but workers moved very slowly. I noted at the time that it was odd to see a crinosa group colony at an elevation as high as Monteverde, where I had never seen crinosa group species before. I assumed it was torosa or one of the other common species at the upper edge of its elevational range, but on laboratory examination I was surprised to find a morphologically distinct form. Other samples from Monteverde and ALAS collections from another montane site reinforced its distinctness from lowland forms. Thus it appears to be a low density species that occurs in a narrow elevational band, in wet to moist forests just above the typical range of the abundant lowland forms in the crinosa group.

Castes

Nomenclature

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

  • moelleri. Crematogaster brevispinosa r. moelleri Forel, 1912f: 214 (w.m.) BRAZIL (Santa Catarina).
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated), 1 syntype male.
    • Type-locality: Brazil: Santa Catarina, Blumenau (Möller).
    • Type-depository: MHNG.
    • Longino, 2003a: 88 (q.).
    • Combination in C. (Orthocrema): Emery, 1922e: 134; Santschi, 1923c: 250.
    • Subspecies of brevispinosa: Forel, 1913l: 233; Forel, 1914d: 270; Bruch, 1915: 530; Bruch, 1916: 304; Emery, 1922e: 134; Santschi, 1923c: 250; Borgmeier, 1927c: 92; Gallardo, 1931b: 297; Gallardo, 1934: 14; Kusnezov, 1953b: 337; Kempf, 1972a: 85; Bolton, 1995b: 158.
    • Status as species: Longino, 2003a: 86; Pedraza & Fernández, 2019: 896.
    • Distribution: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica.

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

Description

Worker

Longino (2003) - HL 0.908, 0.702, 0.921; HW 0.996, 0.812, 1.031; HC 0.933, 0.738, 0.989; SL 0.710, 0.570, 0.709; EL 0.174, 0.172, 0.170; A11L 0.303; A11W 0.136; A10L 0.125; A10W 0.120; A09L 0.082; A09W 0.090; A08L 0.074; A08W 0.078; WL 0.993, 0.786, 1.038; SPL 0.138, 0.102, 0.153; PTH 0.208, 0.179, 0.224; PTL 0.243, 0.180, 0.266; PTW 0.238, 0.196, 0.209; PPL 0.201, 0.161, 0.229; PPW 0.233, 0.203, 0.255; CI 110, 116, 112; OI 19, 25, 18; SI 78, 81, 77; PTHI 86, 99, 84; PTWI 98, 109, 79; PPI 116, 126, 111; SPI 14, 13, 15; ACI 0.75.

Color red brown, gaster darker.

In face view head subquadrate, about as wide as long, with emarginate posterior margin; mandibles shiny, smooth or with faint striae; clypeus convex, smooth and shiny; scapes falling short or just attaining posterior margin of head when laid back from insertions; terminal three to four segments of antenna gradually lengthening and broadening, becoming increasingly densely pubescent, terminal two segments very much larger than proximal segments, so that antennal club appears two-segmented; scapes with abundant long subdecumbent to suberect pubescence, with no differentiated long erect setae; face with abundant long subdecumbent to suberect pubescence, 1-5 medium length filiform erect setae on face posterior to frontal carinae; malar spaces and space between eyes and antennal insertions with fine longitudinal striae, rest of face smooth and shining.

Promesonotal profile forming a single convexity, mesonotum slightly elevated posteriorly, dropping abruptly to propodeal suture (not elevated, sloping gradually to suture in Braulio Carrillo worker); propodeal suture deep in dorsal view but not visible in lateral view due to lateral carinulae that bridge the suture, these carinulae with small denticle (carinulae reduced and lacking denticle on Braulio Carrillo worker, such that propodeal suture more v-shaped in lateral view); dorsal and posterior faces of propodeum in same plane, sloping from propodeal suture to petiolar insertion, anterior half of face faintly and irregularly punctatorugose, becoming smooth and concave posteriorly; propodeal spines upturned, medium length, narrowly acute and spiniform; promesonotal dorsum with weak sculpture, usually with more or less longitudinally oriented rugulae or striae, interspaces smooth and shining; side of pronotum faintly striate anteriorly, becoming smooth and shining posteriorly; katepisternum punctatorugose (punctate on Braulio Carrillo specimen), sublucid; side of propodeum faintly longitudinally striate or etched ventrally, smooth dorsally; promesonotal dorsum with 7-11 medium length flexuous setae, those on pronotal humeri longest; anterodorsal propodeum with 0-1 erect flexuous setae; femora and tibiae with abundant subdecumbent pubescence, no erect setae.

Petiole in lateral view subtrapezoidal, sublucid, with faint microsculpture; anteroventral petiolar tooth strongly developed, triangular, acute, with blunt tip (tooth smaller on Braulio Carrillo worker); dorsal face of propodeum smooth and shiny, subquadrate, about as wide as long, sides flat to somewhat convex, widest point of petiole about midlength; posterolateral tubercles each with an erect posteriorly directed seta; postpetiole with small sharp ventral denticle (lacking on Braulio Carrillo worker), globular to subquadrate in dorsal view, about as long as wide, posterior margin rounded to emarginate, with 2-8 erect setae; fourth abdominal tergite smooth and shining, with sparse subdecumbent to suberect pubescence and abundant long erect setae that are evenly distributed across tergite, erect setae stiffer than those on mesosoma.

Queen

Longino (2003) - (Costa Rica) A normal queen (dorsal face of propodeum drops steeply from postscutellum and much of propodeum appears ventral to scutellum and postscutellum) with general shape, sculpture, and pilosity characters of the worker; size characters as in Figures.

Type Material

Syntype worker, male: Brazil, Santa Catarina, Blumenau (Möller) Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève (examined).

References

  • Emery, C. 1922c. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [part]. Genera Insectorum 174B: 95-206 (page 134, Combination in C. (Orthocrema))
  • Forel, A. 1912g. Formicides néotropiques. Part III. 3me sous-famille Myrmicinae (suite). Genres Cremastogaster et Pheidole. Mém. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 19: 211-237 (page 214, worker, male described)
  • Longino, J.T. 2003a. The Crematogaster of Costa Rica. Zootaxa 151: 1-150. (page 86, Raised to species: new status, worker, queen described)
  • Santschi, F. 1923c. Solenopsis et autres fourmis néotropicales. Rev. Suisse Zool. 30: 245-273 (page 250, Combination in C. (Orthocrema))

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Clemes Cardoso D., and J. H. Schoereder. 2014. Biotic and abiotic factors shaping ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) assemblages in Brazilian coastal sand dunes: the case of restinga in Santa Catarina. Florida Entomologist 97(4): 1443-1450.
  • Clemes Cardoso D., and M. Passos Cristiano. 2010. Myrmecofauna of the Southern Catarinense Restinga sandy coastal plain: new records of species occurrence for the state of Santa Catarina and Brazil. Sociobiology 55(1b): 229-239.
  • Favretto M. A., E. Bortolon dos Santos, and C. J. Geuster. 2013. Entomofauna from West of Santa Catarina State, South of Brazil. EntomoBrasilis 6 (1): 42-63.
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Forel A. 1912. Formicides néotropiques. Part III. 3me sous-famille Myrmicinae (suite). Genres Cremastogaster et Pheidole. Mémoires de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 19: 211-237.
  • Forel A. 1913. Fourmis d'Argentine, du Brésil, du Guatémala & de Cuba reçues de M. M. Bruch, Prof. v. Ihering, Mlle Baez, M. Peper et M. Rovereto. Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles. 49: 203-250.
  • Gallardo A. 1934. Las hormigas de la República Argentina. Subfamilia Mirmicinas, segunda sección Eumyrmicinae, tribu Crematogastrini (Forel), género Crematogaster Lund. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Buenos Aires 38: 1-84.
  • Kempf W. W. 1978. A preliminary zoogeographical analysis of a regional ant fauna in Latin America. 114. Studia Entomologica 20: 43-62.
  • Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
  • Longino, J.T. 2003. The Crematogaster (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) of Costa Rica. Zootaxa 151:1-150
  • 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.
  • Ulyssea M.A., C. E. Cereto, F. B. Rosumek, R. R. Silva, and B. C. Lopes. 2011. Updated list of ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) recorded in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, with a discussion of research advances and priorities. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 55(4): 603-–611.
  • Viana-Silva F. E. C., and C. M. Jacobi. 2012. Myrmecofauna of Ironstone Outcrops: Composition and Diversity. Neotrop Entomol 41: 263–271.
  • da Silva de Oliveira A. B., and F. A. Schmidt. 2019. Ant assemblages of Brazil nut trees Bertholletia excelsa in forest and pasture habitats in the Southwestern Brazilian Amazon. Biodiversity and Conservation 28(2): 329-344.