Nesomyrmex spininodis

Nesomyrmex spininodis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Crematogastrini
Genus:	Nesomyrmex
Species:	N. spininodis
Binomial name
	Nesomyrmex spininodis; (Mayr, 1887) Specimen labels
Synonyms
	Leptothorax genualia Santschi, 1922; Leptothorax umbratilis Wheeler, W.M., 1921;

Schmid et al. (2014) found this ant nesting in infructescences (the stem and remains of buds and fruits above the level of the water reservoir in the rosette) of the bromeliad Vriesea friburgensis on Santa Catarina Island, Brazil. Arredondo & Guerrero (2025) report collecting it by manual sampling on vegetation in Parque Nacional Natural Tuparro, Colombia.

Photo Gallery

Arredondo & Guerrero (2025), Fig. 26. Nesomyrmex spininodis worker (IAvH-E-251254). A, full-face view. B, lateral view. C, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A, B); 0.5 mm (C).

Identification

Arredondo & Guerrero (2025) -This species can be recognized by:

11 antennomeres
uniformly testaceous or yellowish-brown coloration
dorsal surface of head finely reticulate-punctate and longitudinally rugose, without presence of shiny areas
basal third of first gastral tergite generally aciculate-striate in its sculpture

Kempf (1959) synonymized all previously described species and subspecies within the echinatinodis complex under the nominal species, except for N. spininodis. A potential revision of the N. echinatinodis complex could either result in the synonymization of certain species or the division of the complex into multiple forms. It is common to find Nesomyrmex echinatinodis exhibiting sculpture similar to that of N. spininodis, particularly in populations from Colombia different from those living in the TDF (Unpublished data). Additionally, coloration is highly variable within the echinatinodis complex. For this reason, using coloration as the primary criterion for distinguishing between different forms is not recommended. Thus, the separation of both species should not rely solely on coloration; instead, the sculpture of the frontal area of the head and the first gastral tergum should also be compared.

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: -0.631944444° to -34.583333°.


North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, 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.

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

Koch et al. (2018) sampled this species in Caryocar barsiliense trees, in southeastern Brazil cerrado, as part of a study examining species interactions in ant-plants.

Castes

Queen

Images from AntWeb


Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0173996. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences.	Owned by ALWC, Alex L. Wild Collection.

Nomenclature

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

spininodis. Leptothorax spininodis Mayr, 1887: 617 (w.m.) BRAZIL. Forel, 1912g: 18 (q.). Combination in L. (Goniothorax): Emery, 1896g: 59 (in key); in L. (Nesomyrmex): Kempf, 1959c: 427; in Nesomyrmex: Bolton, 2003: 272. Subspecies of echinatinodis: Forel, 1899c: 55; Emery, 1924d: 250. Revived status as species and senior synonym of genualia, umbratilis: Kempf, 1959c: 427.
umbratilis. Leptothorax (Goniothorax) umbratilis Wheeler, W.M. 1921f: 160 (w.q.) GUYANA. Junior synonym of spininodis: Kempf, 1959c: 427.
genualia. Leptothorax (Goniothorax) genualia Santschi, 1922d: 252 (w.) PARAGUAY. Junior synonym of spininodis: Kempf, 1959c: 427.

Description

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).
Arredondo, B.S., Guerrero, R.J. 2025. The ant genus Nesomyrmex Wheeler (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) from the threatened Colombian tropical dry forest: three new species, a new synonymy, and new distributional data. ZooKeys 1232, 131–172 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1232.141693).
Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 272, Combination in Nesomyrmex)
Emery, C. 1896g. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 28: 33-107 (page 59, Combination in L. (Goniothorax) (in key))
Emery, C. 1924f [1922]. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Myrmicinae. [concl.]. Genera Insectorum 174C: 207-397 (page 250, Race/subspecies of echinatinodis)
Forel, A. 1899d. Formicidae. [part]. Biol. Cent.-Am. Hym. 3: 25-56 (page 55, Race/subspecies of echinatinodis)
Forel, A. 1912h. Formicides néotropiques. Part IV. 3me sous-famille Myrmicinae Lep. (suite). Mém. Soc. Entomol. Belg. 20: 1-32 (page 18, 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).
Kempf, W. W. 1959d. A synopsis of the New World species belonging to the Nesomyrmex-group of the ant genus Leptothorax Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Stud. Entomol. (n.s.) 2: 391-432 (page 427, Combination in L. (Nesomyrmex), Revived status as species, and senior synonym of genualia and umbratilis)
Koch, E. B. A., W. Dattilo, F. Camarota, and H. L. Vasconcelos. 2018. From species to individuals: does the variation in ant-plant networks scale result in structural and functional changes? Population Ecology. 60:309-318. doi:10.1007/s10144-018-0634-5
Ladino, N., Feitosa, R.M. 2022. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Parque Estadual São Camilo, an isolated Atlantic Forest remnant in western Paraná, Brazil. ZOOLOGIA 39: e22001 (doi:10.1590/S1984-4689.v39.e22001).
Mayr, G. 1887. Südamerikanische Formiciden. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 37: 511-632 (page 617, worker, male described)

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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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.
Gomez V. E. S., and G. Z. González. 2007. Catalogo de Las Hormigas Presentes en El Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad del Cauca. Popayán : 1-58.
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