Key to American Cryptopone workers

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online

This key to workers of Cryptopone from North and Central America is based on Branstetter & Longino (2022).

1

  • HW > 0.8–0.96; petiolar node in side view relatively more tapering dorsally, ventral margin of petiole and anteroventral petiolar process relatively shallower (Fig. 8A); cloud forests of Guatemala and Honduras => Cryptopone gilvagrande
  • HW < 0.82; petiolar node less tapering, ventral margin of petiole and anteroventral petiolar process relatively more convex (Fig. 8B–F); USA to Costa Rica => 2
Fig. 8. Petiolar nodes of workers in the Mesoamerican members of the C. gilva complex. All images are to same scale (scale bar = 0.1 mm). (A) C. gilvagrande (CASENT0614525), Guatemala. (B) C. gilvatumida (CASENT0641046), Puebla, 1400 m. (C) C. gilvatumida (CASENT0631951), Xalapa, Mexico, 1940 m. (D) C. guatemalensis (CASENT0641031), Puebla, 1400 m. (E) C. guatemalensis (CASENT0640429), Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, 1130 m. (F) C. guatemalensis (CASENT0642925), Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, 1580 m. (B) and (D) occurred together in the same Winkler sample, and sequencing placed them in different clades.

2

return to couplet #1

  • HW 0.74–0.80; southeastern USA => Cryptopone gilva
  • HW 0.57–0.82; Mexico to Costa Rica => 3

3

return to couplet #2

  • Petiolar node in side view slightly more tapering and rounded dorsally (Fig. 8B and C); HW 0.60–0.82; Puebla to Oaxaca, Mexico => Cryptopone gilvatumida
  • Petiolar node in side view slightly less tapering and more truncate dorsally (Fig. 8D–F); HW 0.57-0.73; Puebla, Mexico, south to Costa Rica => Cryptopone guatemalensis
Fig. 8. Petiolar nodes of workers in the Mesoamerican members of the C. gilva complex. All images are to same scale (scale bar = 0.1 mm). (A) C. gilvagrande (CASENT0614525), Guatemala. (B) C. gilvatumida (CASENT0641046), Puebla, 1400 m. (C) C. gilvatumida (CASENT0631951), Xalapa, Mexico, 1940 m. (D) C. guatemalensis (CASENT0641031), Puebla, 1400 m. (E) C. guatemalensis (CASENT0640429), Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, 1130 m. (F) C. guatemalensis (CASENT0642925), Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, 1580 m. (B) and (D) occurred together in the same Winkler sample, and sequencing placed them in different clades.

References