Cambridge Entomological Club, 1874
PSYCHE

A Journal of Entomology

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This is the CEC archive of Psyche through 2000. Psyche is now published by Hindawi Publishing.

M. R. Smith.
On the Status of Cryptocerus Latreille and Cephalotes Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
Psyche 56(1):18-21, 1949.

This article at Hindawi Publishing: https://doi.org/10.1155/1949/47236
CEC's scan of this article: http://psyche.entclub.org/pdf/56/56-018.pdf, 300K
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ON THE STATUS OF CRYPTOCERUS LATREILLE
AND CEPHALOTES LATREILLE (HYMEN-
OPTERA : FORMICIDB)
BY MARION R. SMITH
Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Agricul- tural Research Administration, United States Department of Agriculture
Latreille, in Hist. Nat. Crust. and Ins., volume 3, 1802, included in the family ('Formicaires" two genera, Form- ica Linnaeus and the new genus Cephalotes. Cephalotes was monobasic with Formica atrata Linnaeus the only included species (pp. 357-358). In volume 5, 1803, he again placed in "Formicaires" only the two genera but to the group which he had called Cephalotes in 1802 he gave the name Cryptocerus (p. 311). Distinguishing characters were given but no species were mentioned by name.
Fabricius, 1804, Systema Piezatorum, page 418, used the name Cryptocerus for atratus Linnaeus and 4 new species, including umbraculatus; and he cited Cephalotes Latreille in synonymy under Cryptocerus atratus. In 1810, Latreille (Consid. Gen. Crust. Arachn. Ins., p. 437) designated atratus Fabricius (= atratus Lin- naeus) as the type of Cryptocerus. Since atratus was available for type designation of Cryptocerus, this action by Latreille has fixed the matter beyond dispute. Crypto- cerus Latreille is thus an isogenotypic synonym of Ce- phalotes Latreille.
The interpretation of Cryptocerus
by subsequent authors who considered umbraculatus Fabricius as its type is erroneous, and a new generic name is needed for Cryptocerus of Emery (1915) and au- thors, not Latreille.
On page 253 of his 1805 work Latreille says "Toutes les esphces de cryptocerh, dont la fourmi atrata de Lin. et de Fab. est une, sont exotiques. Ces insectes out un caractere tree remarquable, et qu'on ne trouve A aucun de cet ordre; c'est le premier article de leurs antennes qui est ins6r6 et log6 de chaque cote, dans une rainure 18
Pu&e 56:18-21 (1949). hup Ytpsychu einclub org/S&SS-Oi8 html



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19491 Smith-Cryptocerus 19
laterale de la tete."
In the original description of Ce-
phalotes he writes "Premier article des antennes insere et loge, de chaque cote, dans une rainure laterale de la fete," and in the original description of Cryptocerus- "Premier article des antennes s'inserant dans une rain- ure de la tete." It seems obvious that Latreille con- sidered Cryptocerus (hidden or concealed horn [an- tenna]) much more descriptive of the genus Cephalotes (having a head) and decided to use it instead. Since the facts in this case are as just stated, the tribe receives the new name, Cephalotini, based on the type genus Cephalotes, which must be used for Cryptocerus of authors. The genera and subgenera involved, with syn- onyiny and types, are as follows :
Genus Cephalot es Latreille
Cephalotes Latreille, 1802, Hist. Nat. Crust. and Ins. 3 : 357.
Type : Formica atrata Linnaeus.
Monobasic.
Syn.: Cryptocerus Latreille, 1803, Hist. Nat. Crust. and Ins. 5 : 311.
Type Formica atrata Linnaeus. Designated by Latreille, 1810.
Syn. : Cryptocerus Fabricius, 1804, Systema Piezatorum, p. 418 (in part).
Emery, 1915, Bul. Soc. Ent. de France, p. 192 divided Cryptocerus into three subgenera: Paracryptocerus, n. subgen., type Cryptocerus sphosus Mayr ; Cryptocerus, type C. umbraculatus Fabricius, and Cyathocephalus, n. subgen., type Cryptocerus pollens King. Except for Cryptocerus he listed additional species in each sub- genus. In 1922, in Wytsman's Genera Insectorurn, fas- cicule 174c, pp. 306, 308, he gave a detailed description of each of the above subgenera, cited the same types and listed all the known species.
Since Cryptocerus is not available, Paracryptocerus will succeed it. The correct arrangement is as follows:



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Psyche
[Mar.
Genus Paracryptocerus Emery,
subgenus Paracryptocerus Emery
Paracryptocerus Emery, 1915, Bul. Soc. Ent. de France, p. 192.
Type : Cryptocerus spinosus Mayr. By original designation.
Genus Paracryptocerus Emery,
subgenus Harnedia, new subgenus
Harnedia is proposed for Cryptocerus of Emery, 1915, and subsequent authors, not of Latreille. Its type is
umbraculatus Fabricius (1804).
In 1922, Emery char-
acterized the group and listed all the known species. The name Harnedia is in honor of Mr. R. W. Harned from whom I have received much encouragement in my studies of ants.
The following descriptions of the soldier and worker of this new subgenus are substantially the same as given by Emery in 1922.
Soldier.-Head usually longer than wide, occasionally similar to that of Paracryptocerus Emery except that the head is longer and less convex above. Tubercles near the posterior border of the head usually connected by a transverse ridge which unites with the lateral borders of the head forming a surface within these borders known as a cephalic disk; anterior border of cephalic disk with a median gap which exposes the mandibles and clypeus. Thorax very noticeably more robust than that of the worker and without foliaceous border as in that caste. Epinotum with more or less distinct spines ; exceptionally (umbraculatus Fabricius), the posterior spines of the epinotum are the longest.
Worker.-Thoracic border of variable form, some- times spined or toothed as in Paracryptocerus Emery but the posterior pair of the 2 or 3 pairs of teeth on the epi- notum never the longest. Border of thorax sometimes



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19491 Smith-Cryptocerus 21
divided into 3 parts to correspond to its segments, more or less widely margined, translucent or foliaceous, and without teeth.
Genus Paracryptocerus Emery,
subgenus Cyathomyrmex Creighton
Cyathocephalus Emery, 1915, Bul. Soc. Ent. de France, p. 192.
Preoccupied by Kessler, 1868.
Type: Cryptocerus pallens Klug.
By original des-
ignation.
Cyathomyrmex Creighton, 1933, Psyche 40: 98. New
name.
STRUMIGENYS VENATRIX WESSON AND WESSON SYNONY- MOUS WITH S. TALPA WEBER.-In the Course of his studies of dacetine ants, Mr. William L. Brown, Jr. secured a loan of the type of 8. falpa Weber (1934, Psyche, 41 : 63- 65, fig. 1) from the collections of the Illinois Natural History Survey. This specimen he very kindly placed at my disposal, since I had not seen it during earlier studies on Strumiqenys in Ohio (Wesson and Wesson, 1939, Psyche, 46: 91-112, PI. 3). The type of talpa proves to be indistinguishable from paratypes of S. vena- trix which I had described from southern Ohio, and the latter name should be dropped.
According to Brown's recent revision of the dacetine genera, S. talpa should be transferred from the genus Strumigenys Fred. Smith to the genus Smithistruma Brown (1948, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 74: 101-129,2 figs.). -LAURENCE G. WESSON, JR., Department of Physiology, New York University College of Medicine.



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