Tapinoma litorale cubaense

Tapinoma litorale cubaense
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Dolichoderinae
Genus:	Tapinoma
Species:	T. litorale
Subspecies:	T. litorale cubaense
Trinomial name
Tapinoma litorale cubaense Wheeler, W.M., 1913

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 22.85° to 22.383333°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Cuba (type locality), Greater Antilles.

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

Wheeler (1913) - I have taken several colonies of this variety in hollow twigs along the banks of the Rio de Hanabana and about fifteen miles from Bolondron, also in the Cienaga de Zapata. There is a single worker from Cayamas (E. A. Schwarz) in my collection. The workers of a single colony taken in a Tillandsia at Aguada de Pasajeros are distinctly larger, but can hardly be supposed to represent a distinct variety, since the workers of Tapinoma often vary considerably in size in different colonies of the same species (T. sessile erraticum, etc.)

Nomenclature

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

• cubaense. Tapinoma litorale var. cubaensis Wheeler, W.M. 1913b: 498 (w.) CUBA.

Worker

The worker differs from that of the typical Tapinoma litorale of tropical Florida and the Bahamas only in having longer antennae, the scapes reaching about twice their diameter beyond the posterior corners of the head,with the basal funicular joints slightly longer than broad.

Queen

In the female the upper surface of the body is uniformly dark brown, darker than in the female of the typical form and not variegated with yellow. The posterior borders of the gastric segments are only narrowly yellow and the body is slightly more pubescent and therefore more opaque.

Male

The male has the head and gaster black and the thorax dark brown, so that this sex is also much darker than the corresponding sex of litorale.

References

• Wheeler, W. M. 1913b. The ants of Cuba. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 54: 477-505 (page 498, worker described)