.jpg){kind=logo}
Pseudomyrmex ereptor
| Pseudomyrmex ereptor | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Pseudomyrmecinae |
| Genus: | Pseudomyrmex |
| Species group: | elongatulus |
| Species: | P. ereptor |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudomyrmex ereptor Ward & Branstetter, 2022 | |
The only known specimen of P. ereptor — an alate queen — was collected in a nest of Pseudomyrmex elongatulus in a dead twig attached to a liana, on Vereda Cima, Estación de Biología ‘Los Tuxtlas’, Veracruz. The nest (collection code PSW07360) contained numerous workers, alate queens, males, and brood of P. elongatulus. Pseudomyrmex ereptor apparently represents a workerless, inquiline parasite of P. elongatulus. The fact that only a single alate queen of P. ereptor was found in the nest suggests that she was a recent arrival. The absence of a dealate queen of P. elongatulus should not be over-interpreted; it could simply indicate that this was part of a larger polydomous colony. Pseudomyrmex colonies are often comprised of disjunct nests occupying several dead twigs on a plant.
| At a Glance | • Workerless Inquiline |
Identification
Small species (see HW, HL, and LHT measurements), with moderately elongate head (CI 0.78); upper surface of mandible smooth and shiny, with scattered punctures; eyes of moderate length (REL 0.44, REL2 0.56); frontal carinae separated by basal scape width; petiole relatively short (PLI 0.61, PL/HL 0.52) and broad (PWI 0.75, DPW/LHT 0.64), with stout, recurved anteroventral tooth; in profile, petiole with convex anterodorsal face ascending gradually to summit in posterior quarter of node, then rounding into steep posterior face; postpetiole very broad, ovorectangular in dorsal view (PPW/LHT 1.01); profemur robust (FI 0.46); hind leg short (LHT/HL 0.61). Head sublucid, densely but finely punctulate, the punctures separated by one to several diameters, the interspaces smooth and shiny, or (towards vertex) finely coriarious. Standing pilosity scattered on head, mesosoma (MSC 11), and gaster, short and sparse on petiole, postpetiole, and fourth abdominal (first gastric) tergite. Uniformly light orange-brown.
The small size (HL 1.25, LHT 0.76), smooth and shiny mandibles, and very broad (ovorectangular) postpetiole (PPW/LHT 1.01) are distinctive features of P. ereptor that set it apart from the queen of its apparent host species, Pseudomyrmex elongatulus, and from other species in the P. elongatulus group. Queens of P. elongatulus are larger (HL 1.37–1.42, LHT 0.90–0.94), with striate mandibles, and a slender, pyriform postpetiole as seen in dorsal view (PPW/LHT 0.78–0.83). Our UCE phylogeny shows that P. ereptor is sister to the entire assemblage of P. elongatulus samples (Fig. 1). It is well separated from an alate queen of P. elongatulus (D1985) collected in the same nest, thus confirming its status as a different species.
Keys including this Species
Distribution
Latitudinal Distribution Pattern
Latitudinal Range: 18° to 18°.
| North Temperate |
North Subtropical |
Tropical | South Subtropical |
South Temperate |
- Source: Ward & Branstetter, 2022
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
Castes
Phylogeny
Relationships among Pseudomyrmex elongatulus group species based on Ward & Branstetter (2022).
| Pseudomyrmex |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nomenclature
The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.
- ereptor. Pseudomyrmex ereptor Ward & Branstetter, 2022: 23, figs. 12, 24 (aq.) MEXICO (Veracruz).
Type Material
- Holotype alate queen, MEXICO Veracruz: Los Tuxtlas, 10 km NNW Sontecomapan, 500 m, 18° 35′ N, 95° 05′ W, 21 Mar 1985, ex dead twig of liana [in nest of P. elongatulus], rainforest, P. S. Ward PSW07360A (UNAM) (CASENT0863524).
Description
References
- Ward, P.S., Branstetter, M.G. 2022. Species paraphyly and social parasitism: Phylogenomics, morphology, and geography clarify the evolution of the Pseudomyrmex elongatulus group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a Mesoamerican ant clade. Insect Systematics and Diversity 6(1), 4: 1-31 (doi:10.1093/isd/ixab025).