{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T04:15:19Z","timestamp":1760242519218,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,23]],"date-time":"2017-10-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1508716800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004901","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o de Amparo \u00e0 Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PPM-00126-15"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PPM-00126-15"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004901","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Here we use karyomorphometrical analysis to characterize and evaluate the karyotype of the turtle ant Cephalotes pusillus (Klug, 1824). This is the first representative of this diverse ant genus to be cytogenetically studied. They bear a diploid chromosome set of 44 chromosomes, which, according to the centromeric index, are metacentric, submetacentric, and subtelocentric. This small ant is quite widely distributed in the Neotropics and seems to be well adapted to living in disturbed areas. Here we report the species nesting on dead trunks used to build fences at countryside houses and farms. On these nests, we observed some never reported behavior of C. pusillus: the ants appear to be able to dig by actively removing small fragments of dead wood fiber, hence expanding their nest cavities. It was not thought that Cephalotes species had this ability, given that they nest in preexisting cavities. Our observations are initial remarks that the small plier-like mandibles of C. pusillus may not be a constraint for this species, adding to our knowledge on ant nesting biology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects8040114","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,23]],"date-time":"2017-10-23T12:20:24Z","timestamp":1508761224000},"page":"114","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Reassessing the Chromosome Number and Morphology of the Turtle Ant Cephalotes pusillus (Klug, 1824) Using Karyomorphometrical Analysis and Observations of New Nesting Behavior"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7850-9155","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maykon","family":"Cristiano","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolu\u00e7\u00e3o e Meio Ambiente\/ICEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais 35400-000, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"T\u00e1ssia","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa de P\u00f3s-gradua\u00e7\u00e3o em Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Vi\u00e7osa, Vi\u00e7osa, Minas Gerais 36570-000, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laysa","family":"Sim\u00f5es","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa de P\u00f3s-gradua\u00e7\u00e3o em Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais 35400-000, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vivian","family":"Sandoval-G\u00f3mez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"161 Ashridge Road, Darra, Queensland 4076, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2811-2536","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Danon","family":"Cardoso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Biodiversidade, Evolu\u00e7\u00e3o e Meio Ambiente\/ICEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Campus Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais 35400-000, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.1111\/syen.12090","article-title":"The evolution of Myrmicine ants: Phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)","volume":"40","author":"Ward","year":"2015","journal-title":"Syst. 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Etol."}],"container-title":["Insects"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4450\/8\/4\/114\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:48:13Z","timestamp":1760208493000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4450\/8\/4\/114"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,23]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,12]]}},"alternative-id":["insects8040114"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/insects8040114","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-4450"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2075-4450"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,23]]}}}