-- Crematus is Latin, but gaster is from Greek, so burning belly would be the result of what is known as a bastard (or hybrid) coining, mixing roots of two languages. Thought this is fairly common today (because no one knows classical languages any more, but its author, Lund, did, and so did most of his readers of the time) it was almost unheard of at the time this name was coined.
-- In any case, crematus is a past participle, meaning burnt (burned), not burning, and this verbal form of words is not commonly used as a combining form in the coining of names (though there are more exeptions to this generalization than to the former one).
-- As Teleutotje has pointed out Crematogaster is argued by some to have resulted from a typographical error for "Cremastogaster". I believe this is correct because of the unusual articulation of the postpetiole to the dorsal face of the gaster (thus, the gaster hangs), rather than anteriorly as in other ants. Furthermore, the gaster of the type species C. scutellaris has nothing that would distinguish it as either burned or burning, including its sting, which is spatula shaped, and thus cannot penetrate skin or cause a burning sensation.
(Attempts to correct the name to "Cremastogaster" have been overruled by those on the International Commision of Zoological Nomenclature who make such decisions, so we live with a name of confusing derivation, but one that is at least a little easier to pronouncing than the "correct" form.)
Fonte:
http://antfarm.yuku.com/topic/12612#.UETV1Zb1XrM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Traduzione sintetica:
Cremastogaster era il nome originario ( "cremasto" e "gaster" derivano dal greco = gastro appeso) e l'anatomia di questa formica ne è una valida conferma. In seguito l'errore tipografico ha trasformato il nome in
Crematogaster che, volendo, ha pure esso un significato: un nome ibrido metà latino e metà greco (crematus -gaster = "addome bruciato"), ma questa formica, anatomicamente e fisiologicamente parlando, non ha niente di "focoso" nell'addome per cui vien da pensare che la corretta denominazione fosse quella originaria (
Cremastogaster).
Per completezza leggere il post originale perchè dettagli importanti possono esserci sfuggiti.
....sulla "forma a cuore" non sappiamo cosa dire...nè quale possa essere il collegamento con la formica, etimologicamente parlando.
Giannibert dice:
