Cephalotes depressus (Klug, 1824)

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 : 24

The depressus species group

( Figs. 25 , 26 )

The depressus group is composed by the former pavonii group of Paracryptocerus byKempf (1951), andthespeciesC. betoi andC. palustris , described by De Andrade in De Andrade and Baroni Urbani (1999). In the recentmolecularphylogeny (Priceetal., 2016, seetheirFig. S3)thisgroupis sistertotheclade formedbycoffeae,patei, emeryi andcrenaticeps groups. The majority of speciesin the depressus group occur in Brazil. Cephalotes cristatus is the only member that does not occur in Brazil.

Diagnosis: In workers and soldiers, dorsal and declivous face of propodeumcontinuous,notmeetinginadistinct propodealangle,withtwo pairs of spines, the anterior one longer than the posterior one ( Fig. 25 d-i).

Brazilian species of depressus group

Cephalotes betoi De Andrade, 1999

Cephalotes borgmeieri (Kempf, 1951)

Obsolete combination: Paracryptocerus borgmeieri Cephalotes cordatus (Smith, 1853)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus cordatus

= Cephalotes cordatus boliviensis (Santschi, 1921)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus cordatus boliviensis Cephalotes depressus (Klug, 1824)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus depressus

= Cephalotes depressus sorocabensis (Forel, 1912)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus depressus sorocabensis Cephalotes eduarduli (Forel, 1921)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus eduarduli

Cephalotes palustris De Andrade, 1999

Cephalotes pavonii (Latreille, 1809)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus pavonii

Key to the identification of Brazilian species of the depressus group of Cephalotes based on workers and soldiers

( Figs. 25 a-o)

1 Indorsal view, postpetiole at most twice wider than long ( Fig.25k )......... ..................................................................................................................... C. depressus

1’ In dorsal view, postpetiole three to five times wider than long ( Fig. 25 d-g, j, l, m).................................................................................................2

2 Erecthairspresentonmesosoma,petiole,postpetioleandgaster ( Fig.25n ) ................................................................................................................................... C.eduarduli

2’Erect hairsmostlyabsent,presentonlyontheapicesofspines ( Fig.25o )...3

3 In frontal view, color of thefrontal lobes similar to the rest of the head ( Fig. 25a ). In dorsal view, posterior margins of petiolar spines weakly curved backwards ( Fig. 25e - dotted).................................... C. borgmeieri

3’ In frontal view, color of frontal lobes lighter than rest of the head ( Fig. 25b, c ). In dorsal view, posterior margins of petiolarspines strongly curved backwards ( Fig. 25f, g, j, l, m - dotted)............................................4

4 In dorsal view, anterior and lateral margins of the petiole meeting in a distinct angle ( Fig. 25g, m - line)..................................................................5

4’ Indorsal view, anterior andlateral margins of thepetiole continuously curved ( Fig. 25e, f, j, l - line)..............................................................................6

5 Posteriorthird of declivous faceof propodeumstriate ( Fig.25h )...... C. betoi

5’ Posteriorthird of declivousface of propodeum notstriate; some striae can be present on propodeum, but not reaching the posterior third ( Fig. 25i )........................................................................................................ C. pavonii

6 Indorsalview, lateral expansionsof pronotum subrectangular, followed by a shorter projection ( Fig. 25d )................................................. C. palustris

6’ Indorsal view, lateral expansionsof pronotum triangular ( Fig.25f )........ ....................................................................................................................... C. cordatus

Figures

Figure 25 Workers and soldiers ofdepressus group.A and E:C.borgmeieri [E:CASENT0173665].B and F:C.cordatus [CASENT0922596].G,I and M:C.pavonii [G:CASENT0922611]. C, K and O: C. depressus [C, O: CASENT0173671, K:CASENT0909272].D: C. palustris [UFV-LABECOL-004489].H and L: C.betoi. J and N: C.eduarduli [CASENT0173676].

Figure 26 Distribution maps of depressus group in Brazil. White stars: type locality. Black circles: material examined. Red squares: new records. Blue triangles: records not examined from literature. (Literature source: 4, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25, 28, 35, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 49, 56, 60, 61, 63, 66, 70, 71, 76).