Pyramica incerta

Japanese Name

Nokoba-uroko-ari

Brown, W. L., Jr. (1949) Revision of the ant tribe Dacetini. 1. Fauna of Japan, China and Taiwan. Mushi 20: 1-25.

Smithistruma incerta Brown, 1949, Smithistruma habei Azuma, 1951, Pyramica incerta (Brown): Bolton, 1999,

Total length of workers around 1.5 mm. Body color yellowish to reddish brown. Lateral margins of head roundly convex. Clypeus fringed with spatulate hairs, and with a slightly concave anterior margin. Leading edges of antennal scapes angulate at the basal third. Promesonotum more or less convex. Dorsal surface of mesosoma with numerous standing hairs. Pronotal humeri with elongate paired flagellate hairs.

This species is similar to S. rostrataeformis, but can be distinguished by the shape of the anterior margin of its clypeus and the mesosomal hairs. The type-locality of S. incerta is Mt. Kirishima, Kyushu, and the northernmost record of distribution is Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture (Sonobe, 1977). This species is found on the floor of broadleaf forests, and nests in rotting wood or leaf litter. Collected samples are often accompanied by Cryptopone sauteri, and for this reason Masuko (1985b) has suggested the possibility of social parasitism (xenobiosis) involving these species.

Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu.