Cephalotes clypeatus (Fabricius, 1804)

Oliveira, Aline Machado, Powell, Scott & Feitosa, Rodrigo Machado, 2021, A taxonomic study of the Brazilian turtle ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Cephalotes), Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 65 (3), No. e 20210028, pp. 1-52 : 23

The clypeatus species group

( Figs. 22 , 23 )

The clypeatus groupwas proposed byDe Andrade and Baroni Urbani (1999) to include three species from the former genus Zacryptocerus . The authorsstatedthat the diagnostic charactersof this group (triangular vertexal angles, and pronotal and propodeal spines fused by lamella) could indeed be enough to keep them in a separated genus from Cephalotes .However, thiswould render Cephalotes paraphyletic since the phylogeny shows this group as a clade within the genus Cephalotes ( Fig. 54 ). All species in this group are exclusively South American.

Diagnosis: In workers andsoldiers, pronotal andpropodeal spines fused by lamellae ( Fig. 2o ). Gaster surrounded by a lamella ( Fig. 22 ).

Brazilian species of clypeatus group

Cephalotes clypeatus (Fabricius, 1804)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus clypeatus

Cephalotes membranaceus (Klug, 1824)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus membranaceus

= Cephalotes fervidus (Smith, 1876)

Obsolete combination: Cryptocerus fervidus Cephalotes ustus (Kempf, 1973)

Obsolete combination: Zacryptocerus ustus

Key to the identification of Brazilian species of the clypeatus group of Cephalotes based on workers and soldiers

( Figs. 22 a-c)

1 Indorsalview, gastersmoothandshiny ( Fig.22a )......................... C. clypeatus

1’ In dorsal view, gaster sculptured and opaque ( Fig. 22b, c ).................2

2 Gasteryellowishtobrownishwithsparsehairs( Fig.22b ).......... C.membranaceus

2’ Gaster black, with abundanthairs ( Fig.22c )........................................ C. ustus

Figures

Figure 2 Workers of Cephalotes. A: C. atratus (atratus group) [CASENT0178627]. B: C. depressus (depressus group) [CASENT0173671]. C and F: C. pusillus (pusillus group) [CASENT0173703].D and I:C.pellans (pallens group) [CASENT0173697].E:C.solidus (solidus group).G:C.cordatus (depressus group) [CASENT0922596].H:C.frigidus (angustus group) [UFV-LABECOL-004442]. J: C. basalis (basalis group). K: C. grandinosus (grandinosus group) [CASENT0922544]. L: C. maculatus (pinelii group) [CASENT0909295]. M: C. trichophorus (coffeae group). N and R: C. conspersus (angustus group) [R: CASENT0922530]. O: C. clypeatus (clypeatus group) [CASENT0173669]. P: C. umbraculatus (umbraculatus group) [CASENT0922582]. Q: C. jheringi (fiebrigi group). fle: femoral lamellar expansions. ge: gastral expansions. pd: posterodorsal spine. ple: propodeal lamellar expansions. ps: propodeal spine. pv: posteroventral spine.vle: vertexal lamellar expansions.

Figure 22 Workers and soldiers of clypeatus group.A: C. clypeatus [CASENT0173669]. B: C. membranaceus [FOCOL2117].C: C. ustus.

Figure 23 Distribution maps of clypeatus group in Brazil. White stars: type locality. Black circles: material examined. Red squares: new records. Blue triangles: records not examined from literature. (Literature source: 4, 12, 13, 15, 20, 34, 37, 45, 49, 61, 62, 63, 68, 71).

Figure54 Themaximum cladecredibility treefrom phylogenetic analysesperformed byPriceet al.(2016) basedonmorphologicalandmoleculardata.The tree has beentrimmedtoinclude onlythose species knownfromBrazil.Thelabelsforthespecies groupsfollowour proposals,including thesynonymies,andtheprevious namesforthesynonymized groupsareshown ingrey.