Strumigenys precava

Strumigenys precava
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Strumigenys
Species:	S. precava
Binomial name
	Strumigenys precava; Brown, 1954 Specimen Labels

Brown (1962) - I found this species rather common on Barro Colorado Island [Panama] ..., nesting in red- or chocolate-rotten logs. One nest found was very large, containing several hundred - perhaps a thousand or more - workers. Workers were seen carrying a mycetophilid larva and a termite nymph into this nest as it was being opened, and a captive colony fed on a wide variety of small arthropods, including entomobryoid collembolans.

Identification

Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys precava-group. The numerous long flagellate gastral hairs of precava are duplicated within the group only in Strumigenys formicosa. Their differences are noted under this latter species. The presence of flagellate gastral hairs coupled with possession of a conspicuous conical tubercle from which the long flagellate humeral hair arises, quickly separates this species from both Strumigenys princeps and Strumigenys thomae. The mandibles of precava are slightly longer (MI 55-60) than in princeps and thomae (MI 41-50 together).

Longino (Ants of Costa Rica) - Apical fork of mandible with one intercalary tooth, but tooth nearly invisible; mandible with one preapical tooth just proximal to apical fork; sides of head in front of eyes deeply and broadly excavated; gaster smooth and shiny, with long flagelliform setae. Brown (1954) describes the species as having "intercalary tooth represented by an inconspicuous but acute spur, fused most of its length with the dorsal face of the ventral apical tooth." In the one Costa Rican specimen I have examined, the intercalary tooth is in the position described, but is so reduced that it is barely visible as a slight step, not an acute spur.

Keys including this Species

Key to Neotropical and Nearctic Strumigenys

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 19.13° to -24.032°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana (type locality), Panama, Peru, Peru, Venezuela.

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

Worker


.

Nomenclature

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

precava. Strumigenys precava Brown, 1954c: 196 (w.q.) GUYANA. [Strumigenys precava Weber, 1952b: 2; unavailable name, attributed to Brown.] See also: Bolton, 2000: 547.

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

Description

Worker

Brown 1962.

Bolton (2000) - TL 3.1-3.8, HL 0.86-1.02, HW 0.64-0.76, CI 74-79, ML 0.50-0.56, MI 55-60, SL 0.58-0.68, SI 83-94, PW 0.34-0.42 (excluding humeral tubercles), AL 0.80-1.00 (10 measured). Size of intercalary tooth of apical fork varying from distinct to absent; see note under introduction to group. Leading edge of scape with 2-3 narrowly spatulate hairs that are curved toward the base of the scape. Long flagellate hairs present as follows: in apicoscrobal position; at pronotal humerus, where it arises from a stoutly conical large tubercle; a pair on mesonotum; several on waist segments; numerous on first gastral tergite. Cephalic dorsum reticulate-punctate, usually with overlying rugulae especially on dorsal surfaces of occipital lobes. Spongiform lobes of petiole and postpetiole all well developed; base of first gastral sternite with a thick spongiform collar. Disc of postpetiole smooth to superficially punctulate, usually with fine longitudinal costulae but these may be faint or even absent in some individuals. Basigastral costulae sharply developed, longer than the postpetiole disc; gaster otherwise smooth and shining.

Type Material

Bolton (2000) - Holotype and paratype workers, GUIANA: Kamakusa, 7.xi.1922, no. 64 (H. O. Lang); paratype workers, GUIANA: between R. Cuyuni and R. Mazaruni, no. 358 (N. A. Weber); Mazaruni Forest Settlement (N. A. Weber); PANAMA: Canal Zone, Barro Colorado Island, 1938, no. 739 (N. A. Weber); Barro Colorado I., iv.-v.1942 (J. Zetek); Barro Colorado I. (W. M. Wheeler); Barro Colorado I. (L. Hare); Rio Chinillo (J. Zetek); Rio Quejeta, Cooper's Place (I. Molino); BOLIVIA: Cachuela Esperanza, Rio Beni (W. M. Mann) (Museum of Comparative Zoology, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, National Museum of Natural History, California Academy of Sciences, The Natural History Museum) [examined].

Paratype, 3 workers, Kamakusa, Guyana, B.G. & Lang,H.O., ANIC32-017706, Australian National Insect Collection.

References

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).
Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. 65:1-1028. (page 547, catalogue)
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1954. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: group of elongata Roger. Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 61:189-200. (page 196, worker, queen described)
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1962c. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: synopsis and keys to the species. Psyche. 69:238-267.
Melo, T.S., Koch, E.B.A., Andrade, A.R.S., Travassos, M.L.O., Peres, M.C.L., Delabie, J.H.C. 2021. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in different green areas in the metropolitan region of Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology 82, e236269 (doi:10.1590/1519-6984.236269).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
Brown W. L. Jr. 1962. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: synopsis and keys to the species. Psyche (Cambridge) 69: 238-267.
Brown W. L., Jr. 1954. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: group of elongata Roger. Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 61: 189-200.
CSIRO Collection
Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
Field Museum Collection, Chicago, Illinois (C. Moreau)
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Lapolla, J.S., T. Suman, J. Soso-Calvo and T.R. Schultz. 2006. Leaf litter ant diversity in Guyana. Biodiversity and Conservation 16:491510
Lattke, J.E. & Goitía, W. 1997. El género Strumigenys en Venezuela. Caldasia 19: 367-396.
Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
Mirmecofauna de la reserva ecologica de San Felipe Bacalar
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Silva R.R., and C. R. F. Brandao. 2014. Ecosystem-Wide Morphological Structure of Leaf-Litter Ant Communities along a Tropical Latitudinal Gradient. PLoSONE 9(3): e93049. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093049
Silva T. S. R., and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. Using controlled vocabularies in anatomical terminology: A case study with Strumigenys (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arthropod Structure and Development 52: 1-26.
Siqueira de Castro F., A. B. Gontijo, P. de Tarso Amorim Castro, and S. Pontes Ribeiro. 2012. Annual and Seasonal Changes in the Structure of Litter-Dwelling Ant Assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Atlantic Semideciduous Forests. Psyche doi:10.1155/2012/959715
Siqueira de Castro F., A. B. Gontijo, W. Duarte da Rocha, and S. Pontes Ribeiro. 2011. As comunidades de formigas de serapilheira nas florestas semidecíduas do Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, Minas Gerais. MG.BIOTA, Belo Horizonte 3(5): 5-24.
Sosa-Calvo J., S. O. Shattuck, and T. R. Schultz. 2006. Dacetine ants of Panama: new records and description of a new species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 108: 814-821.
Sosa-Calvo J., T. R. Schultz, and J. S. LaPolla. 2010. A review of the dacetine ants of Guyana (Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 19: 12-43.
Ulyssea M. A., C. R. F. Brandao. 2013. Catalogue of Dacetini and Solenopsidini ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. Papies Avulsos de Zoologia 53(14): 187-209.
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Weber N. A. 1952. Biological notes on Dacetini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). American Museum Novitates 1554: 1-7.