Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Crematogaster - Acrobat Ants

A colony of acrobat ants - Crematogaster Acrobat Ants - Crematogaster Ants on dead standing wood - Crematogaster atkinsoni Crematogaster - Crematogaster ashmeadi - female Myrmicinae reproductive? - Crematogaster cerasi Crematogaster minutissima Small ant - Crematogaster Crematogaster laeviusula - Crematogaster laeviuscula - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Formicoidea (Ants)
Family Formicidae (Ants)
Subfamily Myrmicinae
Tribe Crematogastrini
Genus Crematogaster (Acrobat Ants)
Other Common Names
Valentine ants
Cocktail ants
Explanation of Names
Crematogaster Lund, 1831
Misspelling of Greek kremastos 'hanging', 'suspended' + gaster 'stomach' (refers to the dorsal attachment of postpetiole to gaster)
Numbers
28 species in NA
Size
workers and males 2.5-3.5mm, queens about twice as long.
Identification
The unusual heart-shaped gaster (as viewed from above) and dorsal articulation of the postpetiole to the gaster are distinguishing features of this genus.
Range
cosmopolitan
Habitat
Northern and desert species soil-inhabiting, most species of the warm, humid Southeast arboreal or semi-arboreal.
Food
Honeydew, extrafloral nectar, scavenged protein from bird and other droppings, carrion.
Print References
Longino, J.T. 2003. The Crematogaster (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) of Costa Rica. Zootaxa 151: 1-150.
Review of North American species by Buren 1968(1)
Internet References
live adult images of eleven Nearctic species plus several species from elsewhere (Alex Wild, mymecos.net)
key to species of Crematogaster found in Mississippi and Alabama (Mississippi State U.)
Works Cited
1.A review of the species of Crematogaster, sensu stricto, in North America (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Part II. Descriptions of ne
Buren, W.F. 1968. Journal of the Georgia Entomological Society: 3: 91-121.