Myrmecina harrisoni

Two specimens were collected from different rotten logs in wet mountain forest dominated by oaks at 1070 m altitude.

Myrmecina harrisoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Myrmecina
Species:	M. harrisoni
Binomial name
Myrmecina harrisoni Brown, 1967 Holotype Specimen Label

Identification

Sculpture of head and alitrunk coarser than in Myrmecina americana , costulae thicker, and the spaces between the costulae relatively narrower and with nearly smooth, shining bottoms.

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 23.1375° to 18.0452°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Mexico (type locality).

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

Found in rotten logs in wet mountain forest dominated by oaks, Liquidambar, and Podocarpus at about 1070 m altitude, Rancho del Cielo, Sierra Guatemala, above the village of Gomez Farias in southern Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Castes

Known only from the worker caste.

Nomenclature

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

• harrisoni. Myrmecina harrisoni Brown, 1967c: 237, fig. 3 (w.) MEXICO.

Description

Holotype worker: TL 3.4, HL 0.77, HW (without eyes) 0.75 (CI 97), ML (adjusted because mandibles are partly open) 0.21, WL 0.90, antennal scape L (chord, from basal collar) 0.61mm.

Sculpture of head and alitrunk coarser than in Myrmecina americana , costulae thicker, and with nearly smooth, shining bottoms. Promesonotal disc with costulae strongly diverging anteriad, forming an irregular triangle with three transverse anterior elements.

Other characters within the range of variation of eastern Myrmecina americana; median lobe of clypeus squarely truncate, with lateral and median tubercles present and about equally developed, not very prominent. Scapes not notably flattened at base. Propodeal teeth prominent, diverging, but also straight. Integument of gastric dorsum shining, with "Scotch-grain" shagreening or microreticulation distinct on basal segment.

Color black, shading to castaneous on mouthparts, coxae, and lower petiole and postpetiole; antennae and legs dull yellowish. Holotype and paratype deposited in the Musuem of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.

Paratype worker: TL 3.5, HL 0.80, HW 0.76 (CI 95), ML 0.22, WL 0.90, scape L 0.65 mm.
Similar to the holotype but a trifle larger. Median clypeal lobe with a more concave anterior border, the 3 tubercles somewhat better developed than in holotype. Details of sculpture, color and pilosity almost exactly as in holotype.

Etymology

This species is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Francis Harrison, proprietor of Rancho del Cielo, naturalist, and frequent host to itinerant naturalists. Months after the collection of this new species, Mr. Harrison was cruelly and senselessly murdered. Let us hope that his attempts to save some part of the northernmost true wet tropical forest in the Western Hemisphere will not have been in vain (Brown, 1967c).

References

• Alatorre-Bracamontes, C.E., Vásquez-Bolaños, M. 2010. Lista comentada de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del norte de México. Dugesiana 17(1): 9-36.
• Brown, W. L., Jr. 1967c. Studies on North American ants. II. Myrmecina. Entomol. News 78: 233-240 PDF (page 237, fig. 3 worker described)
• MacGown, J.A. 2022. Description of a new species of Myrmecina (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) from the southeastern United States. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 149(1): 109-117 (doi:10.3157/061.149.0106).
• Schifani, E., Scupola, A., Alicata, A. 2020. Morphology, ecology and biogeography of Myrmecina sicula André, 1882, rediscovered after 140 years (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Biogeographia – The Journal of Integrative Biogeography 35, 105–116 (doi:10.21426/b635048444).

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

• Coronado-Blanco J. M., D. A. Dubovikoff, E. Ruiz-Cancino, M. Vasquez-Bolanos, K. Y. Flores-Maldonado, and J. V. Horta-Vega. 2013. Formicidae (Hymenoptera) del estado de Tamaulipas, Mexico. CienciaUat 25(1): 12-17.
• Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
• Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
• Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133