A revision of the Neotropical fungus-growing ants of the genus Cyphomyrmex Mayr. Part I. Group of strigatus Mayr (Hym., Formicidae).
Author
Kempf, W. W.
text
Studia Entomologica (N. S.)
1964
7
1
44
http://antbase.org/ants/publications/4576/4576.pdf
journal article
4576
10.
Cyphomyrmex vallensis Kusnezov
Cyphomyrmex daguerrei
vallense (sic!) Kusnezov, 1949: 437, 450-451, Pl. 2. figs. 12-15 (Worker; Argentina, Tucuman: Tafi del Valle).
Cyphomyrmex vallense
Kusnezov, 1957: II (Key).
Types. - Seven workers, taken in Tafi del Valle, on the road to Santa Maria, Tucuman Province. The type locality is 2000 m above sea-level, its climate is temperate and relatively humid. The types appear to be lost, as stated above in the introduction.
Discussion. - The status of the present form is beset with problems that have no easy solution, without recourse to the types, is still available. 1 believe that Kusnezov was right when promoting
vallensis
(Kusnezov constantly spells vallense!) to full species level. As a matter of fact,
daguerrei
is a significantly larger species with more undulated, mutually more approximated frontal carinae, scarcely prominent occipital lobe, longer scapes, armed epinotum, to mention just a few of the more obvious characters (cf. figs. 8 and 22).
C. vallensis
is of smaller size, has more prominent occipital lobes, more broadly expanded frontal carinae which are scarcely constricted behind the frontal lobes. Its epinotum is unarmed and the scape does not project beyond the occipital lobes. It might be closely related with
nemei
, but in this form the postpetiole is extremely broad. The aberrant form, mentioned under
lectus
on a following page, might fall under this name. Indeed, this form includes a specimen from Tucuman (Kusnezov leg., n. 2339), which agrees in general characters with
vallensis
, but its lateral pronotal teeth are very low and the postpetiole is not cupuliform but broader. Short of settling all these doubts, I leave
vallensis
as a species inquirenda.