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Nesomyrmex echinatinodis

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Nesomyrmex echinatinodis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Crematogastrini
Genus: Nesomyrmex
Species: N. echinatinodis
Binomial name
Nesomyrmex echinatinodis
(Forel, 1886)

Specimen labels

Synonyms

Gillette et al. (2015) in a Chaipas, Mexico field study of twig-nesting ants in coffee plants found N. echinatinodis occurred in 6% of the twigs with nests. These nests were found on plants growing between 500-1450 m in elevation. Arredondo & Guerrero (2025) report that workers were collected in dry forest fragments associated with mango (Mangifera indica L.) and Uvito (Cordia dentata Poir.) trees. Several workers were collected foraging on the ground on secondary TDF fragments in Arauca. A single record comes from the Malaise trap inside the mature TDF in SFF Los Colorados, to the northwest of Colombia. These ants are distributed from sea level up to 909m altitude.

Photo Gallery

  • Arredondo & Guerrero (2025), Fig. 21. Nesomyrmex echinatinodis worker (MEFLG-NC 53153). A, full-face view. B, lateral view. C, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm.

Identification

Arredondo & Guerrero (2025) - Nesomyrmex echinatinodis populations throughout its distribution in Colombia (unpublished data), including those from TDF, show wide morphological variability as noted by Kempf (1959) in his discussion of this species. For example, the sculpture on the head and mesosoma may present intra and intercolonial variability, but all the ants studied here share the diagnostic traits proposed by Kempf (1959) for this species, i.e., 11 antennomeres, mesosoma at least partly dark-colored, head with frontal and vertex area partially smooth and shiny, clypeus smooth and shiny, propodeal lobe short and uniformly rounded, basal third of the first gastral tergum slightly striate, were determined as N. echinatinodis s. str.

Nesomyrmex echinatinodis, Nesomyrmex spininodis and Nesomyrmex konina share several traits, thus form the echinatinodis group, which can be recognized by short scapes which in repose do not reach the occipital margin, laterally serrated mesonotum, long and curved propodeal spines, propodeal lobe short and uniformly rounded., petiolar and postpetiolar node with lateral tubercles, scapes and legs lacking erect hairs.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

  • Arredondo & Guerrero (2025), Fig. 29. Distributional map of Nesomyrmex species from the tropical dry forest in Colombia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 23.050833° to -26.808285°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela.

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.
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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.
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Biology

Castes

Images from AntWeb

Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0173994. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ALWC, Alex L. Wild Collection.
Worker. Specimen code casent0179466. Photographer Erin Prado, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by CAS, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Nomenclature

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

  • echinatinodis. Leptothorax echinatinodis Forel, 1886b: xlviii (w.) BRAZIL. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1955b: 25 (l.). Combination in L. (Goniothorax): Emery, 1896g: 59 (in key); in L. (Caulomyrma): Forel, 1914d: 233; in L. (Nesomyrmex): Kempf, 1959c: 425; in Nesomyrmex: Bolton, 2003: 272. Senior synonym of aculeatinodis, cordincola, dalmasi, pungentinodis, schmidti: Kempf, 1959c: 425.
  • aculeatinodis. Leptothorax (Goniothorax) aculeatinodis Emery, 1896g: 60 (w.) COSTA RICA. Subspecies of echinatinodis: Forel, 1899c: 55; Wheeler, W.M. 1921f: 158. Junior synonym of echinatinodis: Kempf, 1959c: 425.
  • pungentinodis. Leptothorax pungentinodis Emery, 1896b: 2 (q.) PANAMA. Combination in L. (Goniothorax): Emery, 1896g: 59 (in key). Subspecies of echinatinodis: Emery, 1924d: 250. Junior synonym of echinatinodis: Kempf, 1959c: 425.
  • dalmasi. Leptothorax echinatinodis r. dalmasi Forel, 1899c: 55 (w.q.) COLOMBIA. Combination in L. (Goniothorax): Emery, 1924d: 250. Junior synonym of echinatinodis: Kempf, 1959c: 425.
  • schmidti. Leptothorax (Goniothorax) echinatinodis subsp. schmidti Menozzi, 1927c: 275 (w.q.m.) COSTA RICA. Junior synonym of echinatinodis: Kempf, 1959c: 425.
  • cordincola. Leptothorax (Goniothorax) echinatinodis subsp. cordincola Wheeler, W.M. 1942: 205 (w.) PANAMA. Junior synonym of echinatinodis: Kempf, 1959c: 425.

Description

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • De la Mora, A., C. J. Murnen, and S. M. Philpott. 2013. Local and landscape drivers of biodiversity of four groups of ants in Neotropical coffee landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation 22: 871-888.
  • Dejean, A., S. Durou, I. Olmsted, R.R. Snelling and J. Orivel. 2003. Nest Site Selection by Ants in a Flooded Mexican Mangrove, with Special Reference to the Epiphytic Orchid Myrmecophila christinae. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19(3) :325-331
  • Dejean, A., S. Durou, I. Olmsted, R.R. Snelling and J. Orivel. 2003. Nest Site Selection by Ants in a Flooded Mexican Mangrove, with Special Reference to the Epiphytic Orchid Myrmecophila christinae. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19(3):325-331
  • Emery C. 1896. Formiche raccolte dal dott. E. Festa nei pressi del golfo di Darien. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata della Reale Università di Torino 11(229): 1-4.
  • Emery C. 1896. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bullettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 28: 33-107.
  • Escalante Gutiérrez J. A. 1993. Especies de hormigas conocidas del Perú (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Revista Peruana de Entomología 34:1-13.
  • Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
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  • 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.
  • Gove, A. D., J. D. Majer, and V. Rico-Gray. 2009. Ant assemblages in isolated trees are more sensitive to species loss and replacement than their woodland counterparts. Basic and Applied Ecology 10: 187-195.
  • Kempf W. W. 1959. A synopsis of the New World species belonging to the Nesomyrmex-group of the ant genus Leptothorax Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Studia Entomologica (n.s.)2: 391-432.
  • Kempf W. W. 1961. A survey of the ants of the soil fauna in Surinam (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Studia Entomologica 4: 481-524.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Kusnezov N. 1978. Hormigas argentinas: clave para su identificación. Miscelánea. Instituto Miguel Lillo 61:1-147 + 28 pl.
  • Larsen, A., and S. M. Philpott. 2010. Twig-nesting ants: the hidden predators of the coffee berry borer in Chiapas, Mexico. Biotropica 42: 342-347.
  • Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Nicargua. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-nicaragua
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  • Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
  • Mirmecofauna de la reserva ecologica de San Felipe Bacalar
  • Philpott, S.M. and P.F. Foster. 2005. Nest-site limitation in coffee agroecosytems: Artificial nests maintain diversity of arboreal ants. Ecological Applications 15(4):1478-1485
  • Philpott, S.M., P. Bichier, R. Rice, and R. Greenberg. 2007. Field testing ecological and economic benefits of coffee certification programs. Conservation Biology 21: 975-985.
  • Reynoso-Campos J. J., J. A. Rodriguez-Garza, and M. Vasquez-Bolanos. 2015. Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de la Isla Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico (pp. 27-39). En: Castaño Meneses G., M. Vásquez-Bolaños, J. L. Navarrete-Heredia, G. A. Quiroz-Rocha e I. Alcalá-Martínez (Coords.). Avances de Formicidae de México. UNAM, Universiad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco.
  • Ryder Wilkie K.T., A. L. Mertl, and J. F. A. Traniello. 2010. Species Diversity and Distribution Patterns of the Ants of Amazonian Ecuador. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13146.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013146
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