Zatania gibberosa Roger 1863, comb.n.
Creators: name: John S. Lapolla
name: Robert J. Kallal
name: Seán G. Brady
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Zatania
Zatania gibberosa

description: Zatania gibberosa (Roger, 1863), comb.n. [Figs 12–15 (worker)]
Prenolepsis gibberosa, Roger, 1863: 161 (worker described). Type locality: Cuba (depository of type specimens unknown). Prenolepis (Prenolepis) gibberosa var. rogeri Mann, 1920: 434 (worker described). Holotype worker, Cuba: Yateras District, Guantanamo, San Blas (NMNH) (examined). Fontenla, 2000: 82, junior synonym of Prenolepis gibberosa (here confirmed, but within Zatania), comb.n.
Worker diagnosis. Large, robust species; head and mesosoma reddish brown, with darker gaster; entire body distinctly opaque (although there is some variation in gaster opacity, see below) with abundant erect setae and pubescence; scapes with very dense layer of suberect pubescence; dorsal face of propodeum distinctly dome-like and with abundant erect setae. Measurements (n = 3): TL 3.0–3.1 mm; HW 0.9–0.96 mm; HL 1.0–1.1 mm; EL 0.22–0.25 mm; SL 1.63–1.8 mm; PW 0.6–0.65 mm; WL 1.73–1.85 mm; PrFL 1.32–1.35 mm; PrFW 0.17–0.24 mm; GL 1.2– 1.3 mm.
Indices: CI 82– 87; REL 20–24; SI 180–189.
Notes. This species has the largest and most robust workers within the genus; the large, pilose workers of this species effectively separate it from other species. It possesses abundant erect setae on the head and mesosoma, including the propodeum, which is in contrast to Z. albimaculata, the species most likely to be confused with Z. gibberosa. Mann (1920) described a variety of Z. gibberosa (var. rogeri, then in Prenolepis) based on the gaster being shiny as opposed to opaque. Fontenla (2000) stated that this character was variable and that the morphological division between opaque and shiny gasters was unclear. In fact we have seen specimens in which the gaster is both shiny in some places and opaque in other places. There is also some variation in the size of workers (suggesting workers might be slightly polymorphic), worker coloration and mesosomal setation (Fontenla, 2000), but with the fairly low number of specimens available for this study we cannot correlate these morphological characters in such a way that suggests there is more than one species present (as opposed to geographical variation). However, this species is reported from across Cuba and into Haiti (although interestingly it has not be collected from the Dominican Republic), and a more detailed study is needed to determine if cryptic species are present. For now we maintain the synonymy established by Fontenla (2000), until additional data suggest otherwise. Both Mann (1920) and Fontenla (2000) report Z. gibberosa from forests; Mann observed nests in decayed logs. Where it occurs, it is apparently an active (workers move about quickly) and abundant species.
description: Published as part of John S. Lapolla, Robert J. Kallal & Seán G. Brady, 2012, A new ant genus from the Greater Antilles and Central America, Zatania (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), exemplifies the utility of male and molecular character systems, pp. 200-214 in Systematic Entomology 37 on pages 209-210