Cryptopone testacea

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Cryptopone testacea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Ponerinae
Tribe: Ponerini
Genus: Cryptopone
Species: C. testacea
Binomial name
Cryptopone testacea
Emery, 1893

Cryptopone testacea castype06939-01 profile 1.jpg

Cryptopone testacea castype06939-01 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Synonyms
At a Glance • Limited invasive  


Photo Gallery

  • C.testacea worker. Photo by Dulneth Wijewardana
  • C.testacea queen. Photo by Dulneth Wijewardana
  • Eggs, Larvae and Pupae of in a captive C.testacea colony. Photo by Dulneth Wijewardana.

Identification

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 9.583333015° to -22.16666985°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Australasian Region: New Caledonia.
Indo-Australian Region: Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Micronesia (Federated States of), New Guinea, Palau, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands.
Malagasy Region: Madagascar.
Oriental Region: India, Sri Lanka (type locality), Vietnam.
Palaearctic Region: China.

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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

A species with a highly cryptic lifestyle and rarely seen on the surface. Workers can be found under large rocks, logs, and soil covered with leaf litter who would seek coverage if exposed to light. They hunt small insects as prey such as termites and will deliver a mild sting to paralyze the prey. The sting from this species to us isn't very painful and the pain lasts only a minute or two. The nest structure is unknown but they make tunnels that spread away from the nest area. The nests contain a single queen and are estimated to have small colonies.

These ants send out alates in the months December-January, April-June, and sometimes in August as well. These queens can be found flying toward light sources nearby but would go away from them after a few minutes. Both male and female alates are attracted to light but most of the time it's only queens or males making the probability of finding a fertile queen extremely low most of the time.

In captivity

It's not very easy to raise them in captivity because mainly most of the time the queens collected are infertile, or they would die from stress or other problems. I've been able to raise a colony with 3 queens which I was able to keep alive for a few months where the queens started killing each other, with only one queen left after the second batch of workers emerged. This queen was then beheaded by a worker who was also laying eggs in the meantime which was likely due to the fact that the worker wanted to be more dominant than the queen. The worker did start laying eggs which they raised until larvae but then one day the entire colony died due to unknown reasons.

Most of the time a queen would shed her wings within 3 days and start laying eggs a few days later. It takes roughly 40 days for an adult ant to develop from an egg, and during that time the queen (who is semi-claustral like other Ponerinae) would go out in search of tiny insects to feed the larvae.

If you manage to keep these ants in captivity would accept any small insects like termites, roaches, mosquitoes, flies, and occasionally honey as food and they can be housed in a setup with enough soil and humidity.

Flight Period

X X X X X X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Castes

Worker

Cryptopone-testaceaH8x.jpgCryptopone-testaceaL5x.jpgCryptopone-testaceaD5x.jpgCryptopone-testaceapitz.jpg
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Cryptopone testacea castype06939-02 head 1.jpgCryptopone testacea castype06939-02 profile 1.jpgCryptopone testacea castype06939-02 dorsal 1.jpgCryptopone testacea castype06939-02 label 1.jpg
Syntype of Ponera anommata. Male (alate). Specimen code castype06939-02. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Phylogeny

Ponerinae

Platythyrea  (40 species, 6 fossil species)

Pachycondyla group
⊞(show genera)
⊟
Ponera group
⊞(show genera)
⊟

Harpegnathos  (13 species, 0 fossil species)

Hypoponera  (177 species, 1 fossil species)

Plectroctena group
⊞(show genera)
⊟
Odontomachus group
⊞(show taxa)
⊟

See Phylogeny of Ponerinae for details.

Nomenclature

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

  • testacea. Cryptopone testacea Emery, 1893a: cclxxv (w.) SRI LANKA.
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated).
    • Type-locality: Sri Lanka (“Ceylon”): (no further data).
    • [Note: Emery, 1893f: 240, supplies the missing Sri Lanka data: Nawalapitya, i.-ii.1892 (E. Simon).]
    • Type-depository: MSNG.
    • [Also described as new by Emery, 1893f: 240 (attributed to Motschoulsky).]
    • [Note: Cryptopone testacea Emery, 1893a: cclxxv (w.), is not conspecific nor congeneric with Amblyopone? testacea Motschoulsky, 1863: 15 (q.) (Wilson, 1958d: 360). Emery, 1893a: cclxxv, stated, “J’établis ce genre [Cryptopone] sur un Insecte que je crois être l’ouvrière dont Motschulsky a décrit la femelle sous le nom de Amblyopone? testacea.” He was mistaken.]
    • Donisthorpe, 1942d: 451 (m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1986c: 88 (l.); Imai, et al. 1984: 67 (k.); Tjan, et al. 1986: 57 (k.).
    • Status as species: Emery, 1893f: 240; Bingham, 1903: 104; Forel, 1913k: 10; Wheeler, W.M. 1933g: 6; Donisthorpe, 1942d: 451; Wilson, 1958d: 360; Wilson & Taylor, 1967: 23; Taylor, 1976a: 79; Dlussky, 1994: 53; Bolton, 1995b: 167; Tiwari, 1999: 30; Wetterer & Vargo, 2003: 416; Clouse, 2007b: 262; Pfeiffer, et al. 2011: 55; Guénard & Dunn, 2012: 58; Bharti & Wachkoo, 2013b: 4 (in key); Sarnat, et al. 2013: 73; Bharti, Guénard, et al. 2016: 49; Dias, R.K.S. et al. 2020: 106; Khachonpisitsak, et al. 2020: 141; Wang, W.Y., Soh, et al. 2022: 117.
    • Senior synonym of anommata: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 167.
    • Senior synonym of emeryi: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 167.
    • Senior synonym of mayri: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 167.
    • Senior synonym of sarawakana: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 167.
    • Distribution: China, India, Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Malaysia (Peninsula, Sarawak), Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Is, Sri Lanka, Thailand.
  • anommata. Ponera anommata Donisthorpe, 1948b: 301 (w.m.) NEW GUINEA (Indonesia).
    • Type-material: 1 syntype worker, 1 syntype male.
    • Type-locality: Indonesia: Irian Jaya (“Dutch New Guinea”), Maffin Bay, 20.vi.1944 (E.S. Ross).
    • Type-depository: CASC.
    • Status as species: Chapman & Capco, 1951: 68.
    • Junior synonym of testacea: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 166.
  • emeryi. Cryptopone emeryi Donisthorpe, 1943a: 168 (footnote).
    • Unnecessary replacement name for testacea: Wilson, 1958d: 360.
    • Junior synonym of testacea: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 166.
  • mayri. Cryptopone mayri Mann, 1919: 293 (w.q.) SOLOMON IS (Santa Isabel).
    • Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated), 1 syntype queen.
    • Type-locality: Solomon Is: Santa Isabel I., Fulakora, 19.v.-24.xi.1916 (W.M. Mann).
    • Type-depository: MCZC.
    • Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1952c: 630 (l.).
    • Status as species: Wheeler, W.M. 1933g: 7; Wheeler, W.M. 1935g: 12.
    • Junior synonym of testacea: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 166.
  • sarawakana. Cryptopone sarawakana Wheeler, W.M. 1933g: 11, fig. 4 (w.m.) BORNEO (East Malaysia: Sarawak).
    • Type-material: 2 syntype workers, 3 syntype males.
    • Type-locality: Malaysia: Borneo, Sarawak, Mt Poi (E. Mjöberg).
    • Type-depository: MCZC.
    • Status as species: Chapman & Capco, 1951: 53.
    • Junior synonym of testacea: Wilson, 1958d: 360; Bolton, 1995b: 167.

Description

Worker

Bingham (1903): "Testaceous, pubescent, sparsely pilose, subopaque, very lightly punctured ; head opaque, thickly punctured, thorax near the mesonotum narrowly raised, metanotum scarcely depressed but moderately compressed, posteriorly obliquely truncate, the declivous face shining, pedicel rounded above, below furnished with a lamina, the posterior portion of the abdomen shining." (Emery.)

Length: 6 mm


Queen

Bingham (1903): "Elongate, opaque, testaceous; eyes large, black, slightly prominent ; head subquadrate, posteriorly bilobed, with three distinct ocelli; front raised between the base of the antennae, carinate on each side, the carinae posteriorly close together, parallel; clypeus truncate ; mandibles porrect, with 5 acute teeth; antennae clavate, about half the length of the body, 12-jointed; thorax narrower, the head elongate ; node thick, subquadrate, with the angles rounded ; abdomen about as broad as the thorax, elongate, the first two segments arched, the three following segments shorter, attenuate towards the apex ; wings whitish hyaline, nervures testaceous." (Motsch.)

Length: 5 mm

Karyotype

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • n = 9, 2n = 18 (Malaysia; Sarawak) (Imai et al., 1983; Tjan et al., 1986; Mariano et al., 2015).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • CSIRO Collection
  • Chapman, J. W., and Capco, S. R. 1951. Check list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Asia. Monogr. Inst. Sci. Technol. Manila 1: 1-327
  • Clouse R. M. 2007. The ants of Micronesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Micronesica. 39: 171-295.
  • Clouse, R.M. 2007. The ants of Micronesia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Micronesica 39(2): 171-295.
  • Dias R. K. S. 2002. Current knowledge on ants of Sri Lanka. ANeT Newsletter 4: 17- 21.
  • Dias R. K. S. 2006. Current taxonomic status of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Sri Lanka. The Fauna of Sri Lanka: 43-52. Bambaradeniya, C.N.B. (Editor), 2006. Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research and Conservation. The World Conservation Union, Colombo, Sri Lanka & Government of Sri Lanka. viii + 308pp.
  • Dias R. K. S., K. R. K. A. Kosgamage, and H. A. W. S. Peiris. 2012. The Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Ants (Order: Hymenoptera, Family: Formicidae) in Sri Lanka. In: The National Red List 2012 of Sri Lanka; Conservation Status of the Fauna and Flora. Weerakoon, D.K. & S. Wijesundara Eds., Ministry of Environment, Colombo, Sri Lanka. p11-19.
  • Donisthorpe H. 1942. Ants from the Colombo Museum Expedition to Southern India, September-October 1938. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (11)9: 449-461.
  • Eguchi K., B. T. Viet, and S. Yamane. 2014. Generic Synopsis of the Formicidae of Vietnam (Insecta: Hymenoptera), Part II—Cerapachyinae, Aenictinae, Dorylinae, Leptanillinae, Amblyoponinae, Ponerinae, Ectatomminae and Proceratiinae. Zootaxa 3860: 001-046.
  • Emery C. 1893. Voyage de M. E. Simon à l'île de Ceylan (janvier-février 1892). Formicides. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 62: 239-258.
  • Emery C. 1911. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Ponerinae. Genera Insectorum 118: 1-125.
  • Fayle T. M., D. P. Edwards, E. C. Turner, A. J. Dumbrell, P. Eggleton, and W. A. Foster. 2012. Public goods, public services and by-product mutualism in an ant–fern symbiosis. Oikos 121(8): 1279-1286.
  • Field Museum Collection, Chicago, Illinois (C. Moreau)
  • Forel A. 1900. Les Formicides de l'Empire des Indes et de Ceylan. Part VII. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 13: 303-332.
  • Gumawardene, N.R., J.D. Majer and J.P. Edirisinghe. 2008. Diversity and richness of ant species in a lowland wet forest reserve in Sri Lanka. Asian Myrmecology 2:71-83
  • Gunawardene N. R., J. D. Majer, and J. P. Edirisinghe. 2008. Diversity and richness of ant species in a lowland wet forest reserve in Sri Lanka. Asian Myrmecology 2: 71-83.
  • Gunawardene N. R., J. D. Majer, and J. P. Edirisinghe. 2012. Correlates of ant 5Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and tree species diversity in Sri Lanka. Myrmecological News 17: 81-90.
  • Guénard B., and R. R. Dunn. 2012. A checklist of the ants of China. Zootaxa 3558: 1-77.
  • Huong N. T. T., P. V. Sang, and B. T. Viet. 2015. A preliminary study on diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) at Hon Ba Nature Reserve. Environmental Scientific Conference 7: 614-620.
  • Janda M., G. D. Alpert, M. L. Borowiec, E. P. Economo, P. Klimes, E. Sarnat, and S. O. Shattuck. 2011. Cheklist of ants described and recorded from New Guinea and associated islands. Available on http://www.newguineants.org/. Accessed on 24th Feb. 2011.
  • Lucky A., E. Sarnat, and L. Alonso. 2011. Ants of the Muller Range, Papua New Guinea, Chapter 10. In Richards, S. J. and Gamui, B. G. (editors). 2013. Rapid Biological Assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea’s sublime karst environments. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60. Conservation International. Arlington, VA.
  • Lucky A., K. Sagata, and E. Sarnat. 2011. Ants of the Nakanai Mountains, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, Chapter 1. In Richards, S. J. and Gamui, B. G. (editors). 2013. Rapid Biological Assessments of the Nakanai Mountains and the upper Strickland Basin: surveying the biodiversity of Papua New Guinea’s sublime karst environments. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 60. Conservation International. Arlington, VA.
  • Mann W. M. 1919. The ants of the British Solomon Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 63:273-391.
  • Mann William. 1916. The Ants of the British Solomon Islands. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College 63(7): 273-391
  • Pfeiffer M.; Mezger, D.; Hosoishi, S.; Bakhtiar, E. Y.; Kohout, R. J. 2011. The Formicidae of Borneo (Insecta: Hymenoptera): a preliminary species list. Asian Myrmecology 4:9-58
  • Snelling R. R. 1998. Insect Part 1: The social Hymenoptera. In Mack A. L. (Ed.) A Biological Assessment of the Lakekamu Basin, Papua New Guinea, RAP 9. 189 ppages
  • Snelling R. R. 2000. Ants of the Wapoga river area, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. In Mack, Andrew L. and Leeanne E. Alonso (eds.). 2000. A Biological Assessment of the Wapoga River Area of Northwestern Irian Jaya, Indonesia. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 14, Conservation International, Washington, DC.
  • Taylor R. W. 1976. The ants of Rennell and Bellona Islands. Natural History of Rennell Island, British Solomon Islands 7: 73-90.
  • Tjan K. N., H. T. Imai, M. Kubota, W. L., Jr., Brown, W. H. Gotwald, H.-S. Yong, and C. Leh. 1986. Chromosome observations of Sarawak ants. Annu. Rep. Natl. Inst. Genet. Jpn. 36: 57-58.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1933. Three obscure genera of ponerine ants. American Museum Novitates 672: 1-23.
  • Wheeler W.M. 1935. Check list of the ants of Oceania. Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum 11(11):1-56.
  • Wheeler, William Morton.1935.Checklist of the Ants of Oceania.Occasional Papers 11(11): 3-56
  • Wilson E. O. 1958. Studies on the ant fauna of Melanesia III. Rhytidoponera in western Melanesia and the Moluccas. IV. The tribe Ponerini. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 119: 303-371.
  • Wilson Edward O. 1959. Adaptive Shift and Dispersal in a Tropical Ant Fauna. Evolution 13(1): 122-144
  • Wilson, Edward O. and Hunt, George L. Jr. 1967. Ant Fauna of Futuna and Wallis Islands, Stepping Stones to Polynesia. Pacific Insects. 9(4):563-584
  • Zhang Xiang, and Hou You-Ming. 2009. Five new record genus and thirty one new records species of ants (Hymenoptera; Formicidae) in Fujian Province. Journal of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University 38(5): 479-484.
  • Zryanin V. A. 2011. An eco-faunistic review of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). In: Structure and functions of soil communities of a monsoon tropical forest (Cat Tien National Park, southern Vietnam) / A.V. Tiunov (Editor). – M.: KMK Scientific Press. 2011. 277 р.101-124.
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