Cephalotes marycorn, Oliveira & Powell & Feitosa, 2021

Oliveira, Aline Machado, Powell, Scott & Feitosa, Rodrigo Machado, 2021, A taxonomic study of the Brazilian turtle ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Cephalotes), Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 65 (3), No. e 20210028, pp. 1-52 : 13-14

Cephalotes marycorn newspecies

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9F6D1A9F-5172-4895-8B4B-6D45BD73088B

Figs. 11 a-c, 16

Holotype: BRAZIL: MG, Manga, Parque Estadual da Mata Seca , ix.2011, -14.84833 -43.96555, R. Garro & R. Antoniazzi cols. Dossel 15.5m, in Myracrodruon urundeuva, DZUP 550164 (worker) [ DZUP].

Paratypes: samedataas holotype, -14.84833 -43.96694, dossel 14m, DZUP 550169 (1 worker) [ DZUP]; -14.84833 -43.98805, dossel 10.3m, DZUP 550165 (1 worker) [ DZUP]; -14.84833 -43.98861, dossel 10.3m, DZUP 550168 (1 worker) [ MZSP]; -14.84833 -43.987777, dossel 23m, DZUP 550167 (1 worker) [ DZUP]; -14.848333 -43.965555, dossel 11.8, in Handroanthus chrysotrichus, DZUP 550166 (1 worker) [ DZUP]; -14.848333 -43.98805, dossel 15.8, in Handroanthus chrysotrichus dossel 15.8m, DZUP 550170 (1 worker) [ USNM].

Diagnosis: Amember of angustus species group. Workers with incomplete striae on propleura. First sternite of gaster laterally striate. Anteriorportion offirsttergite of gaster, near tothe postpetiolar insertion, withshort striaeand sparseappressedsimple hairs, the distancebetween each hair longerthan their length; appressed canaliculate hairs present only laterally on gastral anterior portion ( Fig. 11 ).

Worker measurements (N=7): HL 0.98-1.08; HW 1.13-1.33; EL 0.28-0.32; PW 0.92-1.10; WL 0.90-1.16; PTL 0.18-0.21; PTW 0.50-0.57; PPL 021-0.25; PPW 0.53-0.60; GL 1.35-1.68; HBL 0.34-0.40; HBW 0.10; TL 4.10-4.34; CI 111-123; OI 23.8-25.5; PI 17.6-19.0; HBI 24.0-28.0.

Worker description: Body black; mandibles, frontal lobes, apices of femora, dorsal face of tibiae and tarsi yellowish tobrownish ( Fig.11 ).

Mandibles,legs,gasteranddeclivousface of propodeummicroalveolate. Head, mesosoma, petioleandpostpetiolefoveate-microalveolate. Propleura striate-microalveolate, striae not fullyoccupying thepropleura. First tergite of gaster microalveolate with some anterior striae near of the postpetiole insertion; first sternite medially smooth and shiny, laterally striate-microalveolate.

Body with appressed canaliculate hairs ( Fig. 11c ). Mandibles and anterior margin of clypeus with suberect clavate and simple hairs ( Fig. 11a ). Declivous face of propodeum glabrous.First tergite of gaster with sparse appressed simple hairs, first sternite with short erect simple hairs ( Fig. 11b ). Some erect hairs present on the posterior edge of the gastral tergites.

Head widerthan long (CI 111-123), dorsum slight convex ( Fig.11b ). Mandibles with a weakly developed lateral angle. Anterior margin of clypeus concave without a pair of denticles. Frontal carinae sinuous anterior tothe eyes, not bent dorsally over the eyes ( Fig.11c ). Antennae with a three-segmented club. Lateroventral margins of head with posterior carinae extending beyond the eyes until vertexal corners. Vertexal corners with anarrow, irregular lamellar expansion ( Fig. 11a ).

Mesosoma convex in lateral view ( Fig. 11b ). Indorsal view, lateral margins of pronotum with three denticles, the anterior two acute, the posterior broad and sometimes bifid, almost forming a fourth denticle; promesonotalgroove absent ( Fig. 11c ). Mesonotum with a pair of short denticles. Propodeal groove impressed only laterally. Dorsal and declivous faces of propodeum continuous, not meeting in a distinct propodeal angle; lateral margins of propodeum with variable number of denticles ( Fig.11c ). Femora notangulated dorsally, midand hind basitarsi not flattened, with subparallel dorsal and ventral faces.

In dorsal view, anterior margin of petiole concave, laterally with a pair of spines ( Fig. 11c ), petiolar dorsum with a pair of tiny denticles ( Fig.11b ), subpetiolar process broader anteriorly ( Fig.11b ). Postpetiole wider and longer than petiole ( Fig. 11c ), with a pair of spines curved backwards, broader than the spines of petiole. Dorsum of postpetiole without carinaeordenticles ( Fig.11c ), subpostpetiolarprocesspronounced and compressed anteroposteriorly ( Fig. 11b ).

Gaster suboval, deeply concave anteromedially, with broad anterior lamellar expansions, not extending posteriorly in a carina ( Fig. 11c ).

Comments: This species differs from C. gabicamacho and C. monicaulyssea newspecies by the anterior portionof thefirst tergite of gaster, near the postpetiolar insertion, which presents short striae andsparse appressed simplehairs, while inC. gabicamacho this portion is not striate and covered by abundant, appressed canaliculate hairs, and in C. monicaulyssea new species this portion has short striae, but the hairs are canaliculate and evenly distributed.

Natural history: The only series of this species known so far was collected at the Parque Estadual da Mata Seca, an area of successional stageswherehadnoanthropogenic interventionforat least 60 years.There are trees exceeding 20 m inheight andfewer newtrees and lianas when compared with other adjacent areas at different levels of regeneration. That area is a transition zone between three Brazilian biomes: Cerrado and Caatinga (Brazilian savanna), and Mata Atlântica (Brazilian Atlantic Forest). That locality is at almost 500 m a.s.l., with average annual temperature of 25ºC, and average annual precipitation of 818 mm, the rainiest months are November and April (Antoniazzi et al., 2019).

Workers were sampled in arboreal pitfalls which contained water and soap, on the canopy of twotree species, between 10 and 23 meters. Handroanthus chrysotrichus (Mart. Ex DC.) ( Bignoniaceae ), known as Golden trumpet tree (in Brazil, ipê), is found in open formation of Atlantic Forest, in dry forests, on topof hills, disturbed areas, associated with sandy soils, and is widely used as ornamental tree in urban areas (Bittencourt Junior and Moraes, 2010). This species presents extrafloral nectaries located on leaves (Gonzalez, 2013), which is highly attractive for ants, and Cephalotes genus are often sampled on these trees. Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão ( Anacardiaceae ), known as Aroeira, has an ethnobotany role, as an important species for communities in northeastern Brazil, because of its use for medicinal, construction, fuel and forage purposes ( Barros et al., 2016). However, precisely because of its importance for the community, this species was evaluated as one of the ten most priority for conservation, in comparation with almost 150 species with medicinal use endemic from Brazil (Campos and Albuquerque, 2020).

Distribution: Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Etymology: This speciesis named, in apposition, after Mary Lynne Corn, an early pioneer in the study of Cephalotes ants. Her dissertation on Cephalotes atratus from 1976 was groundbreaking in its detailed examination ofCephalotes biology. Her work representsas anessential contribution to our knowledge of this remarkable group of ants and stands as an inspiration to all students of Cephalotes biology.

Figures

Figure 11 Worker of Cephalotes marycorn. A: frontal view. B: lateral view. C: dorsal view.Brazil: MG, Manga.