Strumigenys dietrichi

Relatively well collected in Florida in comparison to the rest of its range. This species is known from a range of forest habitats, having been found in litter samples and in downed wood. (Deyrup et al. 1988). A collection from Puebla includes a few specimens collected in a patch of mesic forest litter along a roadside. Booher (2021) found S. dietrichi is most often associated with extremely wet environments across a wide range of habitats: sloped mid-elevation deeply shaded ravines, marsh-like sunny ditches along roadsides, and in deep moist pockets of litter in upland woodlands. However, collection notes from several Ohio colonies were associated with rotted logs found in ‘dryish’ woods (Wesson & Wesson 1939). In Kansas, a colony was collected in rotted wood in a moist deciduous forest (DuBois 1985). These Kansas specimens had slightly apically expanded bulbous setae extending from the anterior portion of the clypeus; typically, these setae are filiform along their entire length.

Identification
Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys ornata-group. The remarkable clypeal pilosity is immediately diagnostic. Only Strumigenys ornata duplicates this arrangement but in that species the fan of hairs at the dorsal clypeal apex consists of strongly recurved hairs with very strongly swollen, bulbous apices.

Distribution
USA to Mexico; widespread in eastern USA from Florida to Maryland and west to Missouri; in western USA occurs in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. This is another wide-ranging eastern species with a continuous USA distribution from the Florida Keys to Maryland and west to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas (Deyrup 2006). Outside the USA, this species is known from the Mexican state of Puebla. The Puebla collection included a few specimens collected in a patch of mesic forest litter along a roadside. It is likely this species is native in Puebla as there are other ants (Ponera exotica, Cryptopone sp.) and trees (Liquidambar, Acer) that are native in both the southeastern USA and southern Mexico (J. Longino, pers. comm.). (Booher, 2021)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States. Neotropical Region: Mexico.

Biology
Wesson and Wesson (1939) - We have taken this ant in Pike, Lawrence, and Adams Counties. On 4 occasions workers were found under the bark of somewhat decayed logs in open, dryish woods. In all of these logs have been colonies of other species of ants, such as Formica integra, Aphaenogaster tennesseensis, Aphaenogaster lamellidens , Aphaenogaster fulva, Proceratium silaceum, Ponera pennsylvanica. One long, decayed, hickory log, covered with a tough layer of bark, was remarkable in containing colonies of at least 11 species of ants, including 5 species of Strumigenys. The S. deitrichi were found in one part of the log. Several workers of S. deitrichi were also found in the loose humus of a cedar grove. In none of these cases did we observe definite indications of an association between S. deitrichi and the other species of ants living near them, such as the presence of deitrichi workers in frequented galleries of the other.

Brown (1964) - Most records are from nest sites in or under the bark of large rotting logs or stumps. Dr. W. G. Carter has, however, recovered foraging workers from several localities in North Carolina in leaf litter of cedar and oak; whether or not they were nesting in wood, we do not know. Two workers come from a rot hole at the base of a turkey oak in Decatur Co., Georgia.

Nomenclature

 *  dietrichi. Strumigenys (Cephaloxys) dietrichi Smith, M.R. 1931c: 696, pl. 2, fig. 6 (w.) U.S.A. Brown, 1953g: 67 (q.). Combination in S. (Trichoscapa): Smith, M.R., 1947f: 587; Creighton, 1950a: 305; in Smithistruma: Smith, M.R., 1951a: 827; Brown, 1953g: 67; in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673; in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 118. See also: Kennedy & Schramm, 1933: 100; Wilson, 1954: 487; Bolton, 2000: 112.

Worker
Bolton (2000) - TL 1.9-2.2, HL 0.56-0.60, HW 0.36-0.38, CI 62-65, ML 0.07-0.09, MI 13-15, SL 0.28-0.30, SI 78-81, PW 0.24-0.26, AL 0.52-0.59 (18 measured).

Fully closed mandibles with a gap between basal tooth and anterior clypeal margin that is longer than the length of the basal tooth. In full-face view clypeus bluntly pointed apically and pair of hairs closest to apex of point strongly curved away from the midline. Other stout hairs that project beyond outline of lateral clypeal margins sparse and simple, tending to be more or less straight or very weakly curved anteriorly. In anterior view clypeus with an apicodorsal series of 6-8 stout standing long hairs that radiate from the apex like the ribs of a fan, these hairs not strongly bulbous at their apices and in profile not obviously curved posteriorly. In profile clypeal dorsum with a pair of very long wire-like hairs that arise at about the midlength; each of these hairs is inclined posteriorly from just above its base, then curves smoothly upwards so that at least the apical half of the shaft is directed vertically or nearly so (as in ornata, Fig. 166). Posterior to this pair of very specialized hairs the clypeal dorsum with 2-3 pairs of posteriorly curved short hairs that are filiform to very narrowly spatulate. Dorsolateral margin of head with 2 long flagellate hairs, one apicoscrobal, the other anterior to this above the eye; distribution of flagellate hairs otherwise as in cloydi.

Type Material
Bolton (2000) - Lectotype worker (by designation of Brown, 1953a: 68) and paralectotype workers, U. S.A.: Mississippi, Lucedale (H. Dietrich) [examined].

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Annotated Ant Species List Ordway-Swisher Biological Station. Downloaded at http://ordway-swisher.ufl.edu/species/os-hymenoptera.htm on 5th Oct 2010.
 * Atchison R. A., J. Hulcr, and A. Lucky. 2018. Managed fire frequency significantly influences the litter arthropod community in longleaf pine flatwoods. Environmental Entomology 20(10): 1-11.
 * Brown W. L. 1964. The ant genus Smithistruma: a first supplement to the world revision (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 89: 183-200.
 * Brown W. L., Jr. 1953. Revisionary studies in the ant tribe Dacetini. Am. Midl. Nat. 50: 1-137.
 * Coovert G. A. 2005. The Ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ohio Biological Survey, Inc. 15(2): 1-207.
 * Coovert, G.A. 2005. The Ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Ohio Biological Survey Bulletin New Series Volume 15(2):1-196
 * Dash S. T. and L. M. Hooper-Bui. 2008. Species diversity of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Louisiana. Conservation Biology and Biodiversity. 101: 1056-1066
 * Deyrup, M. 2003. An updated list of Florida ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 86(1):43-48.
 * Deyrup, M. and J. Trager. 1986. Ants of the Archbold Biological Station, Highlands County, Florida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 69(1):206-228
 * Deyrup, M. and S. Cover. 2009. Dacetine Ants in Southeastern North America (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Southeastern Naturalist 8(2):191-212
 * Dubois, M.B. and W.E. Laberge. 1988. An Annotated list of the ants of Illionois. pages 133-156 in Advances in Myrmecology, J. Trager
 * Forster J.A. 2005. The Ants (hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Alabama. Master of Science, Auburn University. 242 pages.
 * General D. M., and L. C. Thompson. 2011. New Distributional Records of Ants in Arkansas for 2009 and 2010 with Comments on Previous Records. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 65: 166-168.
 * Guénard B., K. A. Mccaffrey, A. Lucky, and R. R. Dunn. 2012. Ants of North Carolina: an updated list (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 3552: 1-36.
 * Hill J.G. & Brown R. L. 2010. The Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Fauna of Black Belt Prairie Remnants in Alabama and Mississippi. Southeastern Naturalist. 9: 73-84
 * Ivanov, K. 2019. The ants of Ohio (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): an updated checklist. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 70: 65–87.
 * Ivanov K., L. Hightower, S. T. Dash, and J. B. Keiper. 2019. 150 years in the making: first comprehensive list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Virginia, USA. Zootaxa 4554 (2): 532–560.
 * Johnson C. 1986. A north Florida ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insecta Mundi 1: 243-246
 * Kennedy C. H., and M. M. Schramm. 1933. A new Strumigenys with notes on Ohio species (Formicidae: Hymenoptera). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 26: 95-104.
 * King J. R. 2007. Patterns of co-occurrence and body size overlap among ants in Florida's upland ecosystems. Ann. Zool. Fennici. 44: 189-201
 * Lynch J. F. 1988. An annotated checklist and key to the species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Chesapeake Bay region. The Maryland Naturalist 31: 61-106
 * MacGown J. A., J. G. Hill, R. L. Brown, T. L. Schiefer, J. G. Lewis. 2012. Ant diversity at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Oktibbeha, Noxubee, and Winston Counties, Mississippi. Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Bulletin 1197: 1-30
 * MacGown J. A., J. G. Hill, and M. Deyrup. 2009. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Little Ohoopee River Dunes, Emanuel County, Georgia. J. Entomol. Sci. 44(3): 193-197.
 * MacGown J. A., J. G. Hill, and R. L. Brown. 2010.  Native and exotic ant in Mississippi state parks.  Proceedings:  Imported Fire Ant Conference, Charleston, South Carolina, March 24-26, 2008: 74-80.
 * MacGown J. A., and R. L. Brown. 2006. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Tombigbee National Forest in Mississippi. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 79(4):325-340.
 * MacGown, J.A and J.A. Forster. 2005. A preliminary list of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Alabama, U.S.A. Entomological News 116(2):61-74
 * MacGown, J.A. and R.L. Brown. 2006. Observations on the High Diversity of Native Ant Species Coexisting with Imported Fire Ants at a Microspatial Scale in Mississippi. Southeastern Naturalist 5(4):573-586
 * MacGown, J.A. and R.L. Brown. 2006. Survey of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Tombigbee National Forest in Mississippi. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 79(4):325-340.
 * MacGown, J.A., J.G. Hill, R.L. Brown and T.L. 2009. Ant Diversity at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Oktibbeha, Noxubee, and Winston Counties, Mississippi Report #2009-01. Schiefer. 2009.
 * MacGown, J.A., R.L. Brown and J.G. Hill. 2005. An Annotated List of the Pyramica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dacetini) of Mississippi. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Societ 78 (3):285-289
 * Mann H. R., E. Rowe, J. Selfridge, and D. L. Price. 2018. Leaf litter and arboreal ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Mid-Atlantic Forest. Northeastern Naturalist 25(2): 341-354.
 * Moreau C. S., M. A. Deyrup, and L. R. David Jr. 2014. Ants of the Florida Keys: Species Accounts, Biogeography, and Conservation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Insect Sci. 14(295): DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieu157
 * Smith, M. R. 1944. Additional ants recorded from Florida, with descriptions of two new subspecies. Florida Entomologist 27: 14-17.
 * Toennisson T. A., N. J. Sanders, W. E. Klingeman, and K. M. Vail. 2011. Influences on the Structure of Suburban Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Communities and the Abundance of Tapinoma sessile. Environ. Entomol. 40(6): 1397-1404.
 * Van Pelt A., and J. B. Gentry. 1985. The ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Savannah River Plant, South Carolina. Dept. Energy, Savannah River Ecology Lab., Aiken, SC., Report SRO-NERP-14, 56 p.
 * Wesson L. G., and R. G. Wesson. 1939. Notes on Strumigenys from southern Ohio, with descriptions of six new species. Psyche (Cambridge) 46: 91-112.