Crematogaster suehiro

Japanese Name

Suehiro-shiriage-ari

Terayama, M. (1999) Description and record of a new and a little known ants from Japan (Formicidae). In Yamane, Sk., S. Ikudome & M. Terayama, "Identification guide to the Aculeata of the Nansei Islands, Japan", pp. 726-727. Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo.

Total length of workers around 2 mm. Body color wholly bright yellow. Antennal club 2-segmented. Antennal scape long, distinctly surpassing posterior border of head. Eyes a little protrusive, their anterior borders situated at the midlength of the sides of the head. Promesonotal suture indistinct, the dorsal margin in lateral view nearly straight. Pronotal pleuron and mesonotal dorsum and pleuron smooth. Metanotal groove distinctly impressed, but obstructed by a lamella at the lateral border of its dorsum. Propodeal spines slender and rather long, acutely pointed and raised at an angle of slightly more than 45 degrees in lateral view. Subpetiolar process small, projecting anteriorly. Petiolar sides in dorsal view slightly widened posteriorly. Petiole with a pair of hairs on posterolateral border and another pair on posterior border. These hairs longer than the petiole. Postpetiolar dorsum without a median furrow.

This species resembles C. osakensis, but is easily distinguished because its postpetiole is progressively widened posteriorly; its eyes are protrusive and its mesonotal pleuron is smooth. It nests in dead trees in forests. This species was recently described by Terayama (1999), and corresponds to the former Crematogaster sp. 2 of the Myrmecological Society of Japan Editorial Committee (1988). Known only from three collections.

Ishigaki I. [Hidetsune Takamine leg., Kyouichi Kinomura leg., Masaaki Morisita leg.]