Stereomyrmex

Taxobox
name = "Stereomyrmex"


image_caption = worker and male of "S. horni"
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Formicidae
subfamilia = Myrmicinae
tribus = Formicoxenini
genus = "Stereomyrmex"
genus_authority = Emery, 1901
type_species = "Stereomyrmex horni"
type_species_authority = Emery, 1901
diversity_link = Stereomyrmex
diversity = 3 species
range_

range_map_width = 250px
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = see text.
synonyms ="Willowsiella"

"Stereomyrmex" is a genus of myrmicine ants. Two of the described species are known from only a single worker, making this one of the rarest groups of ants in the worldAustralian Ants Online] .

Biology

The single specimen of "S. anderseni" was caught in a pitfall trap, and nothing is known about its biology.

ystematics

"Stereomyrmex" is probably the sister taxon to "Romblonella". Closely related genera are "Leptothorax" Mayr and "Cardiocondyla" 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 petiolar and postpetiolar structure and is paler in color.

Distribution

"S. dispar" has been described from a single worker, taken in 1933 on Bellona Island, Solomon Islands; 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.Taylor 1991] "S. horni" was collected under rocks in Sri LankaEmery 1901] .

Names

The genus was originally named in honor of Maurice Willows Jr., who collected the type specimen of "S. dispar"Wheeler 1934] . "S. anderseni" was collected by A.N. Andersen. "S. horni" was collected by W. Horn.

pecies

* "Stereomyrmex anderseni" (Taylor, 1991) — King Edward River, Western Australia
* "Stereomyrmex dispar" (Wheeler, 1934) — Bellona, Solomon Islands
* "Stereomyrmex horni" Emery, 1901 — Sri Lanka

Footnotes

References

* (1901): Ameisen gesammelt in Ceylon von Dr. W. Horn 1899. "Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift" 1901: 113-122. [http://antbase.org/ants/publications/3825/3825.pdf PDF]
* (1934): Formicidae of the Templeton Crocker Expedition, 1933. "Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences" 21(4): 173-181. [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/social_insects/ants/publications/3433/3433.pdf PDF]
* (1991): Notes on the ant genera "Romblonella" and "Willowsiella", with comments on their affinities, and the first descriptions of Australian species. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). "Psyche" 97: 281-298. [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/social_insects/ants/publications/2834/2834.pdf PDF]
* ITIS: [http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=574144 Genus "Willowsiella"]
* Australian Ants Online: [http://www.ento.csiro.au/science/ants/myrmicinae/stereomyrmex/stereomyrmex.htm Genus "Stereomyrmex"]

Further reading

* (2003): Synopsis and classification of Formicidae. "Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute" 71: 1-370. [http://atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu/HymOnline/reference-full.html?id=20263 Taxon citations]