Rhopalothrix mariaemirae

Rhopalothrix mariaemirae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Attini
Genus:	Rhopalothrix
Species:	R. mariaemirae
Binomial name
Rhopalothrix mariaemirae Tocora, Fiorentino & Fernández, 2024

Rhopalothrix mariaemirae is known from Brazil, Colombia and Guyana. The limited biological notes indicate specimens have been found in winkler leaf litter samples.

Photo Gallery

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  Guerrero et al. (2024), Figure 8. Rhopalothrix mariaemirae paratype worker (CBUMAG:ENT:35950). A, full-face view. B, lateral view. C, mandible distinguishing the teeth of the apical fork; drawing inserted showing the arrangement of the teeth of the apical fork of the mandible. D, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.3 mm.
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  Guerrero et al. (2024), Figure 9. Volume render of Rhopalothrix mariaemirae worker (view in PDF for 3D rendering).

Identification

Masticatory margin of mandible with two small teeth near the base of the subapical tooth; labrum rounded, about as long as broad, with two poorly produced, bluntly, rounded anterior lobes; promesonotal and metanotal groove continuously concave; larger specialized hairs on face are shaped like inverted bowls of broad flat spoons lying close to and paralleling the integumental surface, in perpendicular view they look like eight large, rounded white scales on head.

This species is easily recognized by the anterior labral convexity condition, the two small blunt lobes of the labrum, and the large squamate hairs, 8 in total, on the frons like those of Rhopalothrix diadema (Longino and Boudinot 2013).

The workers of Rhopalothrix jtl021 (ANTWEB1038216, UFV-LABECOL-001953, and USNMENT01127994) match to R. mariaemirae. Those specimens coincide in the strongly convex labrum, distal margin of labrum slightly notched, and the two poorly-developed lobes. In Rhopalothrix jtl021 the posteromedial portion of labrum is translucid. Also, all specimens share eight strongly convex rounded scales located below the maximum width of the head.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Colombian Rhopalothrix

Distribution

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  Guerrero et al. (2024), Figure 2. Distribution map of Rhopalothrix species in Colombia.

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 0.2° to -9.6°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: Guerrero et al., 2024

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia (type locality), Guyana.

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

Expand Explore Overview of Rhopalothrix biology  Longino and and Boudinot (2013) - Knowledge of the biology of the Rhopalothrix isthmica clade of Rhopalothrix is conjectural; a nest has never been recovered and a live specimen never seen. What we know is based on locations and frequencies of capture using various mass-sampling methods. Specimens are known from wet to moderately seasonal forest, from sea level to 2140 m elevation. At higher elevation, they are found in diverse mesophyll forest and in forests with various combinations of Liquidambar and montane oak. In Costa Rica, they are restricted to the wet forests of the Atlantic slope, to 1500 m on the Barva Transect in the Cordillera Volcánica Central and to 800 m in the Cordillera de Tilarán. The genus is unknown from the Monteverde cloud forest at 1500 m, the lowland wet forests of the Osa Peninsula, and the lowland tropical dry forests of Guanacaste, in spite of intensive collecting efforts in these areas. Further north in Central America they can occur at higher elevations. In quantitative sampling at La Selva Biological Station, in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica, occurrences were relatively more frequent in soil/litter cores than in samples of sifted litter from the soil surface. This suggests that nests are subterranean, with workers only occasionally venturing up into the litter layer. Dealate queens are known for a few species, occurring occasionally in Winkler or Berlese samples. Alate queens of one La Selva species were found in canopy fogging samples, one each in two separate fogging events. Oddly, alate queens have not been found in the many Malaise samples from La Selva. Males are only known for Rhopalothrix apertor. ‎

Castes

Queen and male unknown.

Nomenclature

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

• mariaemirae. Rhopalothrix mariaemirae Tocora, Fiorentino & Fernández, in Guerrero et al., 2024: 144, figs. 1, 8, 9 (w.) COLOMBIA, BRAZIL (Amazonas).

Type Material

• Holotype. Colombia • 1 worker; Guaviare, Solano, PNN Serranía de Chiribiquete; 0.18189°N 72.61589°W; 250 m a.s.l.; 30 Nov. 2000; F. Acevedo leg.; ICNC: 099809.
• Paratypes (N = 7). • 1 worker; same data as holotype; CBUMAG:ENT:35950. BRAZIL • 1 worker; Amazonas, Manaus, 2.40262°S, 59.86655°W; 12 Aug. 2016; B. Boudinot, I. Fernandes I & J. Chaul; winkler; ANTWEB1038216; INPA. • 1 worker; same data as for preceding; UFV-LABECOL-001942; MZSP. • 1 worker; same data as for preceding; UFV-LABECOL-001945; MPEG. • 1 worker; same data as for preceding; UFV-LABECOL-001953; CELC. • 1 worker; same data as for preceding; UFV-LABECOL-007266; JTLC. • 1 worker; Amazonas, Manaus, 2.40372°S, 59.86573°W; 12 Aug. 2016; B. Boudinot, I. Fernandes I & J. Chaul; winkler; UFV-LABECOL-001944; DZUP.

References

• Guerrero, R.J., Grajales-Andica, A.F., Fernández, F., Tocora, M.C., Fiorentino, G., García, D.R. 2024. The ants of the genus Rhopalothrix Mayr, 1870 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in Colombia. ZooKeys 1191, 129–150 (doi:10.3897/zookeys.1191.110418).