Crematogaster cisplatinalis Mayr 1887

Wild, Alexander L., 2007, A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 1622, pp. 1-55 : 51

Crematogaster cisplatinalis Mayr 1887 . REVISED STATUS.

Crematogaster victima var. cisplatinalis Mayr 1887: 624 . [Holotype w examined, NHMW; Uruguay (Berg)]

Crematogaster cisplatinalis Mayr. Dalla Torre 1893: 80 .

Crematogaster (Orthocrema) victima subsp. cisplatinalis Mayr. Emery 1924a: 136 .

Crematogaster (Orthocrema) victima cisplatinalis Mayr. Kempf 1972: 90 .

Crematogaster cisplatinalis is a twig-nesting species recorded most frequently from low-lying open habitats in the Paraguay river floodplain. This species is distinct in a number of characters from C. victima , a slightly larger ant that tends to be found in the better-drained habitats of the eastern forests and cerrados. There is little reason to retain the subspecific status of C. cisplatinalis as the two forms overlap substantially in distribution but differ consistently in numerous characters. Among Paraguayan collections these differences include: standing setae present on tibiae and antennal scapes of C. cisplatinalis (absent in C. victima ); dorsum of head almost entirely punctate in C. cisplatinalis , or if a smooth medial strip present the strip is narrower than the width of the compound eye (smooth medial strip present, usually wider than width of compound eye, in C. victima ); color brown to black in C. cisplatinalis (testaceous to medium brown in C. victima ).

Jack Longino, who has conducted extensive taxonomic work on Neotropical Crematogaster (Longino 2003) , confirmed the identifications for both C. victima and C. cisplatinalis in Paraguay and concurs with a change in status of C. cisplatinalis (Longino, pers. comm.).