Strumigenys orchibia (Brown, 1953)

dos Santos-Neto, Esperidião Alves, Chaul, Júlio Cezar Mário & Delabie, Jacques Hubert Charles, 2024, New Species and New Records of Strumigenys Smith, 1860 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) from the Neotropical schulzi Species Group, Taxonomy (New York) 4 (3), pp. 633-648 : 639

Strumigenys orchibia (Brown, 1953) [ 12]

New records. BRAZIL, Bahia, Una, Oiticica, − 16 ◦ 40 ′ 35 ′′, − 39 ◦ 06 ′ 26 ′′, 01.v.2009, (J.R.M., J.C.J.A.) [one worker] [5649]. Unacau, − 15 ◦ 05 ′ 21 ′′, − 39 ◦ 17 ′ 42 ′′, 11.ii.2000, (Santos, J.R. dos) [one worker] .

Comments. We recorded Strumigenys . orchibia [ 12] for the first time outside the Amazon region, in the city of Una, Bahia, Brazil, in Atlantic Forest biome ( Figure 3 A, B ). The Una population shows some differences from the holotype locality ( Figure 3 C, D ), namely smaller total size, lower mesopleuron with faint reticulation and small smooth areas (rather than strongly reticulate), basigastral costulae occupying less than a quarter of the first gastral tergite, dorsum of head with less dense ground pilosity. The pilosity of specimens from both regions is highly comparable, with S. orchibia exhibiting lower abundance of pilosity on the first gastral tergite. In the specimen from the Atlantic Forest, this trait is also evident in the ground pilosity of the head. The scarcity of specimens poses a challenge on whether these two forms represent merely geographic variations of S. orchibia or distinct species.

Figures

Figure 3. Strumigenys orchibia, specimen collected in Atlantic Forest, head in full face view (A), lateral view (B). Paratype [BMNH1013599]. from the Amazon region, head in full-face view (C), lateral view (D). Scale bars are 0.2 mm.. Available at AntWeb.org.