Crematogaster

Collingwood, C. A., 1979, The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark., Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 8, pp. 1-174 : 66

Genus Crematogaster Lund, 1831

Crematogaster Lund, 1831:132.

Type-species: Formica scutellaris Olivier , 1791.

All castes have the postpetiole attached to the dorsum of the first gaster segment. In the worker the cordate gaster is frequently carried uptilted and most species discharge a defensive deterrent fluid from the apical orifice, the sting being weak and atrophied. The male has very short antennal scapes, not longer than the two following funiculus segments.

This is a genus with many hundreds of species spread over the tropics and subtropics with a few palaearctic species none of which are endemic in North Europe.