Cephalotes pusillus (Klug, 1824)

Silva, Márcio Morais, Esbérard, Carlos Eduardo Lustosa, Mayhé-Nunes, Antônio José & Bueno, Cecília, 2019, Ants in the diet of Collared Anteater, Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758) (Pilosa, Myrmecophagidae), in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Check List 15 (6), pp. 1145-1151 : 1148

Cephalotes pusillus (Klug, 1824)

Material examined. BRAZIL: Rio de Janeiro: along highway BR-040 • 2 workers & 1 major worker, Station 8 (21°57′05″S, 043°18′04″W), C. Bueno coll., 02-XI-2014 ( CEIOC 72746 , 72747 , 72748 ) .

Identification. Cephalotes pusillus ( Fig. 2E, F) was identified with the combination of characters described by Kempf (1951) and Andrade and Urbani (1999). Head sub-opaque, shorter than broad, with its upper border convex; occipital region with defined projections; thorax opaque, with anterior edge arched and humerus angulate. Mesosoma with pronotum laterally expanded backward into a narrow, denticulate crest, and with two short teeth on each side, posterior tooth markedly shorter than anterior. Posterior corner of pronotum rectangular and protruding; promesonotal suture well defined. Mesonotum on each side with a very small and sub-rectangular tooth. Basal surface of metanotum in same plane as mesonotum, with a short lateral tooth, larger than second pronotal tooth, and a very long subcylindrical posterior spine originating from posterior corner and diverging at about 45 degrees from longitudinal axis. Propodeum moder- ately convex. Entire thorax finely, quite densely, and strongly reticulate-punctuate, containing a brilliant silver scale. Petiole opaque, finely reticulated, and with an inconspicuous and slightly curved lateral denticle. Postpetiole opaque, as broad as petiole, apically truncated, with a wide basal projection, also finely reticulated with sparse and scaly hairs, and subdivided on each side at the apex, curving slightly forward. Gaster opaque, elliptical, and emarginate anterior medially; first gastral tergite with very narrow lateral border, not distinctly defined and without crest; tergites and sternites finely and rather reticulate-punctuate.