Strumigenys creightoni, full face view of worker.

Strumigenys creightoni is in the pulchella group. Species in this group have a distinct diastema found on the basal portion of the mandibles (a gap between the basal lamella and basal tooth); principal dental row of mandible with 4 sharp teeth, with the 3rd tooth not being the longest; anterior clypeal margin transverse to broadly convex; clypeus lacking a peripheral groove; lateral margins of clypeus with a fringe of broadly spatulate to spoon shaped hairs that are curved anteriorly or reflexed, and the anterior margin with smaller hairs that are directed anteriorly or curve toward the midline, or 1-2 pairs found directly above the mandibles that curve outward; spatulate to spoon shaped hairs found on leading edge of scape with some curving or inclining toward base of scape; and spongiform appendages well develped on both petiole and postpetiole. Members of this group can be further separated into two smaller groups with S. memorialis, missouriensis, pulchella, and reflexa having recurved or reflexed hairs on the anterior and/or lateral edges of the clypeus and S. abdita , creightoni, deyrupi, and metazytes completely lacking recurved or reflexed hairs on the margins of the clypeus. S. creightoni differs from those three species by the lack of erect hairs on vertex near occipital margin, lack of an apicoscrobal hair, the lack of a fine projecting hair at pronotal humerus, and the lack of standing pilosity on the mesonotum, whereas those 3 species all have those respective hairs. S. creightoni looks a bit like S. clypeata, but the clypeus is more broadly rounded, the spatulate hairs on the clypeus are wider and less abundant, and the hairs on the rest of the head are wide and spatulate rather than simple and flagellate.

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