Contribution to the Knowledge of the Genus Proceratium Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Proceratiinae) in the New World

Abstract

The genus Proceratium Roger comprises rare ants that are irregularly distributed in tropical and temperate regions of the world. Despite this global distribution, these ants are rarely collected, likely due to their cryptobiotic lifestyle. In the New World, the genus comprises 22 known species distributed from Southern Canada to the South of Brazil, and in some Caribbean islands. The taxonomy of the genus Proceratium is here updated for South America. We describe P. amazonicum sp. nov, from Rondônia state and provide distribution data for P. brasiliense, P. convexipes, and P. silaceum. We also present, for the first time, high-resolution images of the P. colombicum type and P. ecuadoriense, and provide a new record of P. micrommatum from Peru, and comment about its morphological variation and distribution. A key for the workers of the P. micrommatum clade is also provided. The species we describe belongs to P. micrommatum clade and represents the second species recorded from Brazil after 60 years, since only P. brasiliense was known previously in the country.

Keywords

• type material
• hypogeic ant
• new records
• new species
• P. micrommatum species key