Abstract
A new myrmicine ant, Tropidomyrmex elianae gen. n. & sp. n., is described from southeastern and central Brazil, based on workers, ergatoid gynes, males and larvae. Tropidomyrmex workers are relatively small, monomorphic, characterized mainly by the feebly pigmented and extremely thin integument; subfalcate mandibles bearing a single apical tooth; palpal formula 1,2; clypeus relatively broad and convex; reduced compound eyes; propodeum unarmed and with a strongly medially depressed declivous face; double and bilobed well developed subpostpetiolar processes; and peculiarities in the sting apparatus. A colony fragment of T. elianae containing workers, ergatoid gynes, males, and brood was found inside a ground termite nest (Anoplotermes pacificus Apicotermitinae) in a montane rocky scrubland in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Tropidomyrmex elianae is known also from two workers collected in leaf litter samples processed with a Winkler extractor, from the state of Tocantins, central-north Brazil. Despite the differences from the accepted solenopsidine genera, Tropidomyrmex is tentatively assigned to this tribe. Within the solenopsidine ants, the genus is apparently related to Tranopelta. Tropidomyrmex is marked by extreme reductions, perhaps reflecting adaptations to particular habits and habitats.References
Bolton, B. (1994) Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 222 pp.
Bolton, B. (2000) The ant tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 65, 1–1028.
Bolton, B. (2003) Synopsis and classification of the Formicidae. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 71, 1–370.
Bolton, B., Alpert, G., Ward, P.S. & Naskrecki, P. (2006) Bolton's Catalogue of Ants of the World: 1758–2005. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Brandão, C.R.F. (2000) Major Regional and Type Collections of Ants (Formicidae) of the World and Sources for the Identification of Ant Species. In: Agosti, D., Majer, J., Alonso, L.E. & Schultz, T. (Eds.), Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. Biological Diversity Handbook Series. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington D.C., pp. 172–185.
Brown, W.L., Jr. & Nutting W.L. (1950) Wing venation and the phylogeny of the Formicidae (Hymenoptera). Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 75, 113–132.
Cover, S.P. & Deyrup, M. (2007) A new ant genus from the southwestern United States. pp. 89–99. In: Snelling, R.R., Fisher, B.L. & Ward P.S. (Eds.), Advances in Ant Systematics (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): homage to E. O. Wilson – 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, Gainesville, 80, pp. 89–99.
De Andrade, M.L. & Baroni Urbani, C. (1999) Diversity and adaptation in the ant genus Cephalotes, past and present. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie), 271, 1–889.
Dejean, A. & Fénéron, R. (1999) Predatory behavior in the ponerine ant, Centromyrmex bequaerti: a case of termitolesty. Behavioral Processes, 47, 125–133.
Delabie, J.H.C. (1995) Inquilinismo simultâneo de duas espécies de Centromyrmex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae) em cupinzeiros de Syntermes sp. (Isoptera, Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 39, 605–609.
Ettershank, G. (1966) A generic revision of the world Myrmicinae related to Solenopsis and Pheidologeton (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 14, 73–171.
Feitosa, R.M. & Brandão, C.R.F. (2008) A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical myrmicine ant genus Lachnomyrmex Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa, 1890, 1–49.
Giulietti, A.M. & Pirani, J.R. (1988) Patterns of geographic distribution of some palm species from the Espinhaço Range, Minas Gerais and Bahia, Brazil. In: Vanzolini, P.E. & Heier, W.R. (Eds.), Proceedings of a workshop on Neotropical distribution patterns. Academia Brasileira de Ciências. Rio de Janeiro, pp. 39–69.
Harris, R.A. (1979) A glossary of surface sculpture. Occasional Papers of the Bureau of Entomology of the California Department of Agriculture, 28, 1–32.
Higashi, S. & Ito, F. (1989) Defense of termitaria by termitophilous ants. Oecologia, 80, 147–147.
Fernández, F. (2004) Adelomyrmecini new tribe and Cryptomyrmex new genus of myrmicine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology, 44, 325–335.
Klink, C.A. & Machado, R.B. (2005) Conservation of the Brazilian Cerrado. Conservation Biology, 19, 707–713.
Kugler, C. (1978) A comparative study of the Myrmicinae sting apparatus. Studia Entomologica, 20, 413–548.
Lewinsohn, T.M., Freitas, A.V.L. & Prado, P.I. (2005) Conservation of terrestrial invertebrates and their habitats in Brazil. Conservation Biology, 19, 640–645.
Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. (1976) Ant larvae: review and synthesis. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington, 7, 1–108.
Wheeler, W.M. (1908) The polymorphism of ants. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 1, 39–69.
Wild, A.L. & Cuezzo, F. (2006) Rediscovery of a fossil dolichoderine ant lineage (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) and a description of a new genus from South America. Zootaxa, 1142, 57–68.