Centromyrmex Mayr, 1866

Eguchi, Katsuyuki, Viet, Bui Tuan & Yamane, Seiki, 2014, Generic Synopsis of the Formicidae of Vietnam (Insecta: Hymenoptera), Part II — Cerapachyinae, Aenictinae, Dorylinae, Leptanillinae, Amblyoponinae, Ponerinae, Ectatomminae and Proceratiinae, Zootaxa 3860 (1), pp. 1-46 : 29-30

Centromyrmex Mayr, 1866

Taxonomy. The genus Centromyrmex is assigned to the tribe Ponerini ( Bolton 2003) .

Morphology. Workers of Vietnamese species have the following features (see also Schmidt & Shattuck 2014):

Worker monomorphic; head in full-face view subtrapezoidal; frontal lobe horizontal, developed well, completely concealing antennal socket; antennal scrobe absent; anteromedian margin of clypeus weakly convex; posteromedian portion of clypeus narrowly inserted between frontal lobes; mandible elongate-triangular, with serrate masticatory margin; basal angle inconspicuous; basal portion of mandible without a distinct circular fovea or elongate depression dorsolaterally; antenna 12-segmented, gradually incrassate from segment III to XII; scape flattened basally; apical 4 segments somewhat flattened; eye absent; pronotum in lateral view angulate anterodorsally, flattened dorsally; promesonotal suture completely separating pronotum and mesonotum; anterior margin of mesonotum distinctly higher than posterior margin of pronotum; mesopleuron distinctly margined dorsally and posteriorly; metanotal groove absent, instead a distinct broad constriction separating mesonotum from propodeum; dorsum of propodeum in lateral view much lower than anterior part of mesonotum; propodeum unarmed; orifice of propodeal spiracle elliptical; propodeal lobe almost absent; forecoxa massive; outer surface of middle tibia and middle basitarsus with thickened peg-like setae mixed with the normal finer pilosity; apicoventral part of foretibia always with a simple spur behind a large pectinate spur; apicoventral part of midtibia with two simple spurs; apicoventral part of hind tibiae with a simple spur in front of a large pectinate spur; petiole with an anterior peduncle; petiolar node in lateral view somewhat cubic; subpetiolar process developed well as a penantshaped lobe; girdling constriction between abdominal segments III and IV present but very weak; abdominal sternite III with an anteroventral U-shaped ridge; sting well developed.

Differentiation. The worker of Centromyrmex is most similar to that of Cryptopone , but in the latter the basal portion of the mandible has a distinct circular fovea or elongate depression dorsolaterally.

Vietnamese species (1 sp.).

Centromyrmex feae (Emery, 1889) . Au (Cat Tien, Pu Mat, Tay Yen Tu, Van Ban), Zry (Cat Tien).

Bionomics. Centromyrmex feae is a subterranean species occurring in forest habitats. Workers are often collected from rotting logs and termite mounds, suggesting that C. feae is termitophagous.