Stereomyrmex
Encyclopedia
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of myrmicine
Myrmicinae
Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants. There are about 140 genera within the group, with the family being cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes...
ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s. Two of the described species are known from only a single worker, making this one of the rarest groups of ants in the world.
Biology
The single specimen of S. anderseni was caught in a pitfall trap, and nothing is known about its biology.Systematics
Stereomyrmex is probably the sister taxon to RomblonellaRomblonella
Romblonella is a genus of myrmicine ants.-Systematics:Romblonella is probably the sister taxon to Stereomyrmex. Closely related genera are Leptothorax Mayr and Cardiocondyla Emery.-Biology:...
. Closely related genera are Leptothorax
Leptothorax
Leptothorax is a large genus of small ants with mainly Holarctic distribution. The genus is notable for its widespread social parasitism, i.e. they are dependent on the help of workers from other ant species during a part or the whole of their life cycles...
Mayr and Cardiocondyla
Cardiocondyla
Cardiocondyla is an ant genus in the family Formicidae.Closely related genera are Leptothorax, Stereomyrmex and Romblonella.-Species:* C. atalanta* C. batesii* C. bicoronata* C. brachyceps* C. breviscapus...
Emery.
Description
S. dispar is 3.2 mm long and black, with yellowish brown mandibles, antennae, legs and terminal segments of gaster. S. anderseni is only 2 mm long, has a very different petiolarPetiole (insect)
In entomology, the term petiole is most commonly used to refer to the constricted first metasomal segment of members of the Hymenopteran suborder Apocrita; it may be used to refer to other insects with similar body shapes, where the metasomal base is constricted...
and postpetiolar structure and is paler in color.
Distribution
S. dispar has been described from a single worker, taken in 1933 on Bellona IslandBellona Island
Bellona Island is an island of the Rennell and Bellona Province, Solomon Islands. Its length is about 10 km and its average width 2.5 km. Its area is about 17 km². It is almost totally surrounded by 30–70 m high cliffs, consisting primarily of raised coral...
, Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
; no other specimen has since been found, and it is unlikely that the species is truly endemic to Bellona. S. anderseni is known from a single worker as well. S. horni was collected under rocks in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
Names
The genus was originally named in honor of Maurice Willows Jr., who collected the type specimen of S. dispar. S. anderseni was collected by A.N. Andersen. S. horni was collected by W. Horn.Species
- Stereomyrmex anderseni (Taylor, 1991) — King Edward RiverKing Edward RiverThe King Edward River is a river in the Kimberley of Western Australia.The headwaters of the river rise below Poonjurra Hill and flows in a northerly direction almost parallel with the Kalumburu Road and eventually discharges into Deep Bay then Napier Broome Bay and finally the Indian Ocean.The...
, Western AustraliaWestern AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east... - Stereomyrmex dispar (Wheeler, 1934) — Bellona, Solomon Islands
- Stereomyrmex horni EmeryCarlo EmeryCarlo Emery was an Italian entomologist.Born in Naples, Carlo Emery was professor of Zoology at the University of Bologna. He later worked in Geneva...
, 1901 — Sri Lanka