Azteca trailii

Azteca trailii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Tribe:	Leptomyrmecini
Genus:	Azteca
Species:	A. trailii
Binomial name
Azteca trailii Emery, 1893 Specimen Labels
Subspecies
Azteca trailii filicis Forel, 1904 Azteca trailii tillandsiarum Wheeler, W.M., 1942 Azteca trailii tococae Forel, 1904

At a Glance

• Ant garden

Distribution

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil (type locality), French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname.

Distribution based on AntMaps

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.

Biology

Ant Gardens

This species is known to form ant gardens (i.e., they are able to initiate ant gardens or are restricted to ant gardens) (Campbell et al., 2022; Davidson, 1988 (noted as ant-garden initiator); Kleinfeldt, 1986; Marini Filho, 1999 (noted as ant-garden initiator); Orivel & Leroy, 2011; Schmit-Neuerburg & Bluthgen, 2007).

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Syntype of Azteca trailii. Worker. Specimen code casent0903023. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• trailii. Azteca trailii Emery, 1893b: 133, pl. 1, figs. 33-36 (w.m.) BRAZIL (Amazonas).
  • Type-material: syntype workers, syntype males (numbers not stated).
  • [Note: Shattuck, 1994: 26, cites 1w syntype MHNG.]
  • Type-locality: Brazil: Amazonas (J. Trail) (sent by Mayr).
  • Type-depositories: MHNG, MSNG (perhaps also NHMW).
  • Forel, 1904e: 692 (q.).
  • Status as species: Forel, 1895b: 109; Emery, 1896c: 6; Forel, 1904e: 692; Forel, 1906d: 239; Forel, 1912h: 50; Emery, 1913a: 34; Wheeler, W.M. 1921f: 163; Borgmeier, 1923: 95; Wheeler, W.M. 1942: 242; Kempf, 1972a: 35; Shattuck, 1994: 26; Bolton, 1995b: 80.
  • Distribution: Brazil.
  • Current subspecies: nominal plus filicis, tillandsiarum, tococae.

References

• Albuquerque, E., Prado, L., Andrade-Silva, J., Siqueira, E., Sampaio, K., Alves, D., Brandão, C., Andrade, P., Feitosa, R., Koch, E., Delabie, J., Fernandes, I., Baccaro, F., Souza, J., Almeida, R., Silva, R. 2021. Ants of the State of Pará, Brazil: a historical and comprehensive dataset of a key biodiversity hotspot in the Amazon Basin. Zootaxa 5001, 1–83 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5001.1.1).
• Campbell, L.C.E., Kiers, E.T., Chomicki, G. 2022. The evolution of plant cultivation by ants. Trends in Plant Science (doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2022.09.005).
• Davidson, D.W. 1988. Ecological studies of neotropical ant gardens. Ecology 69: 1138-1152.
• Emery, C. 1893l. Studio monografico sul genere Azteca Forel. Mem. R. Accad. Sci. Ist. Bologna (5)3:119-152 (page 133, pl. 1, figs. 33-36 soldier, worker, male described)
• Forel, A. 1904f. In und mit Pflanzen lebende Ameisen aus dem Amazonas-Gebiet und aus Peru, gesammelt von Herrn E. Ule. Zool. Jahrb. Abt. Syst. Geogr. Biol. Tiere 20: 677-707 (page 692, queen described)
• Franco, W., Ladino, N., Delabie, J.H.C., Dejean, A., Orivel, J., Fichaux, M., Groc, S., Leponce, M., Feitosa, R.M. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674, 509–543 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4674.5.2).
• Kleinfeldt, S.E. 1986. Ant-gardens: mutual exploitation. In: Juniper, B. & Southwood, T.R.E. (Eds.): Insects and the plant surface. Edward Arnold, Oxford, pp. 283-291.
• Marini-Filho, O.J. 1999. Distribution, composition, and dispersal of ant gardens and tending ants in three kinds of central Amazonian habitats. Tropical Zoology 12: 289-296.
• Orivel, J., Leroy, C. 2011. The diversity and ecology of ant gardens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae; Spermatophyta: Angiospermae). Myrmecological News 14: 73-85.
• Schmit-Neuerburg, V. & Bluthgen, N. 2007. Ant-garden epiphytes are protected against drought in a venezuelan lowland rainforest. Ecotropica 13: 93-100.
• Wheeler, W. M. 1942. Studies of Neotropical ant-plants and their ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 90: 1-262 (page 243, see also)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Dejean A., B. Corbara, J. Orivel, R. R. Snelling, J. H. C. Delabie, and M. Belin-Depoux. 2000. The importance of ant gardens in the pioneer vegetal formations of French Guiana (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 35(3): 425-439.
• Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
• Franco W., N. Ladino, J. H. C. Delabie, A. Dejean, J. Orivel, M. Fichaux, S. Groc, M. Leponce, and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674(5): 509-543.
• Wheeler W. M. 1921. The Tachigalia ants. Zoologica (New York) 3: 137-168.
• Wheeler W. M. 1942. Studies of Neotropical ant-plants and their ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 90: 1-262.