Igaponera, Troya & Marcineiro & Lattke & Longino, 2022

Troya, Adrian, Marcineiro, Frederico, Lattke, John E. & Longino, John, 2022, Igaponera curiosa, a new ponerine genus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Amazon, European Journal of Taxonomy 823, pp. 82-101 : 89-90

Igaponera gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:97BBFF3A-4D59-4CA8-9276-170B61AA24B0

Type species

Igaponera curiosa ( MacKay & MacKay, 2010) .

Diagnosis

– Eye placed slightly anterad of cephalic mid-length, length occupying close to one-third of lateral cephalic margin

– Scape not reaching posterior cephalic margin when pulled posteriorly

– Funicular segments broader than long

– Malar carina absent

– Mandible triangular, relatively short and robust

– Mandible lacking lateral sulcus

– Mandibular apex in dorsal view blunt

– Teeth along masticatory margin short and of similar size

– Lateral hypostomal process (tooth) with tip directed ventrally, not anteriorly or anterolaterally

– Humeral carina absent

– Propodeal spiracle slit-shaped, almost vertical

– Metapleural gland opening facing laterally, dorsally partially covered by low lobe, posteriorly bound by flange with convex lip

– Petiole sessile with blunt anterolateral projection

– Helcium with narrow transverse rugulose strip between pretergite and constriction at anteroventral face of tergite III

– Prora protrudes anteriorly as brief, anteriorly projecting, bluntly pointed lobe with convex ventral face bordered by lip along lateral margin

– Cinctus strongly marked

– Stridulitrum absent

– Epipygium and hypopygium lacking spine-like setae or stout hairs

– Epipygium convex in cross-section, not posteromedially flattened

– Meso- and metatibial apex each with two spurs, one long and pectinate, one short and simple

– Meso- and metatibial apices lacking spine-like setae

– Tarsal setae (except on probasitarsus) elongate and of flexuous appearance, particularly on penultimate tarsomere

– Claws simple with small arolium

– Head, mesosoma, and petiole with longitudinal, parallel, uniform costulae.

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the Brazilian name for black-water flooded forests in the Amazon region, Igapó. The suffix “- ponera ” is derived from the Greek word “poneros” for “wretched”, “wicked”, “useless”. It is commonly used in generic epithets of the subfamily Ponerinae . It is a non-Latinized neologism and thus invariant.