W. L. Brown

The Neotropical Species of the Ant Genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: Group of Marginiventris Santschi

The present paper is a continuation of my series on the New World fauna of the dacetine ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith. Earlier parts, containing keys to the abbreviations for measure? ments and proportions, may be found in Jour. New York Ent. Soc. 61: 53-59, 101-110 (1953). Other parts have been pub? lished in the same journal, or are in press. The present section deals with two species, 8. marginiventris Santschi and S. longispinosa new species. The first of these has been considered as a subspecies of S. fusca Emery by Santschi, but actually, marginiventris is not close to fusca at all. S. longi? spinosa shares with S. marginiventris the general head form of the cordovensis group and the single preapical tooth. It is supposed that 8. marginiventris and 8. longispinosa are related to each other and to the cordovensis group, but, like all other assumed relationships among the New World Strumigenys, this one would bear much further thought and examination. The two species are similar in general size and habitus, and both are so far known from the Panama-Colombia area, where they have been collected on few occasions. Nothing direct is known of their biology, except that they are rain forest inhabitants.

The Neotropical Species of the Ant Genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: Group of Cultriger Mayr and S. Tococae Wheeler

The present paper is a continuation of my series on the New World fauna of the dacetine ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith. Earlier parts, containing keys to the abbreviations for measure? ments and proportions, may be found in Jour. New York Ent. Soc. 61: 53-59, 101-110 (1953). Other parts are in press. Discussed here are S. cultriger Mayr, S. deltisquama new spe? cies, and S. tococae Wheeler, considered as members of the man dibularis series. S. cultriger and S. deltisquama seem to be re? lated, and these two may be considered as members of group cultriger. They are characterized by having basic mandibularis series mandibular dentition, with the addition, on the inner or masticatory borders of each of the shafts, of a straightedged, translucent lamella which ends in a right angle just short of the proximal preapical tooth. S. cultriger shows obvious close rela? tionships to the smithii group of the mandibularis series ; S. delti? squama is somewhat more aberrant. S. tococae has mandibularis-series dentition, except that the apical fork has two, instead of only one, intercalary teeth. A rudimentary lamella is also present on the inner mandibular border, but this does not imply a close relationship to the cult? riger group; in fact, the relationships of tococae are obscure, and its assignment to the mandibularis series is tentative. Each of these three species remains known from a single col? lection at the present time, so little can be said concerning their probable distribution. S. tococae is known to inhabit plant cavities above the ground, and its very large eyes appear to rep? resent an adaptation to arboreal foraging habits.