Abstract
The genus Proceratium Roger, 1863 contains cryptic, subterranean ants that are seldom sampled and rare in natural history collections. Furthermore, most Proceratium specimens are extremely hairy and, due to their enlarged and curved gaster, often mounted suboptimally. As a consequence, the poorly observable physical characteristics of the material and its scarcity result in a rather challenging alpha taxonomy of this group. In this study, the taxonomy of the Chinese Proceratium fauna is reviewed and updated by combining examinations of traditional light microscopy with x-ray microtomography (micro-CT). Based on micro-CT scans of seven out of eight species, virtual 3D surface models were generated that permit in-depth comparative analyses of specimen morphology in order to overcome the difficulties to examine physical material of Proceratium. Eight Chinese species are recognized, of which three are newly described: Proceratium bruelheidei Staab, Xu & Hita Garcia, sp. n. and P. kepingmai sp. n. belong to the P. itoi clade and have been collected in the subtropical forests of southeast China, whereas P. shohei sp. n. belongs to the P. stictum clade and it is only known from a tropical forest of Yunnan Province. Proceratium nujiangense Xu, 2006 syn. n. is proposed as a junior synonym of P. zhaoi Xu, 2000. These taxonomic acts raise the number of known Chinese Proceratium species to eight. In order to integrate the new species into the existing taxonomic system and to facilitate identifications, an illustrated key to the worker caste of all Chinese species is provided, supplemented by species accounts with high-resolution montage images and still images of volume renderings of 3D models based on micro-CT. Moreover, cybertype datasets are provided for the new species, as well as digital datasets for the remaining species that include the raw micro-CT scan data, 3D surface models, 3D rotation videos, and all light photography and micro-CT still images. These datasets are available online (Dryad, Staab et al. 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h6j0g4p).
Highlights
Recent phylogenetic studies have clarified the evolutionary history of ant subfamilies and genera
Proceratium have a cryptobiotic lifestyle with hypogeic foraging habits and nesting in leaf litter, rotting wood, top soil, or below stones (Baroni Urbani and de Andrade 2003)
We provide a review of the genus Proceratium in China, in which we describe three new species: P. bruelheidei sp. n. and P. kepingmai sp. n. from the P. itoi clade from subtropical southeast China and P. shohei sp. n. from the P. stictum clade from the tropical south of Yunnan Province
Summary
Recent phylogenetic studies have clarified the evolutionary history of ant subfamilies and genera. Proceratium have a cryptobiotic lifestyle with hypogeic foraging habits and nesting in leaf litter, rotting wood, top soil, or below stones (Baroni Urbani and de Andrade 2003) As far as it is known, they are specialized predators of the eggs of spiders and other arthropods, which can be stored in large quantities in the nest Some Japanese Proceratium species display larval haemolymph feeding, a behavior otherwise only known from the ‘dracula ant’ subfamily Amblyoponinae (Masuko 1986). If this is a typical feature for the whole genus or restricted to a few congeners remains unknown and requires more in-depth natural history data than currently available
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