Xenomyrmex floridanus

Wheeler (1931) - "The worker specimens from which this form was described were taken by Theodore Pergande in a twig of a mastic tree Sideroxylon mastichodendron, at Lake Worth Florida." Wheeler also notes, in details provided for a number of synonymized forms: he collected a queen establishing a colony in a small cavity in a branch of a living tree on Long Pine Key, Florida; specimens from the Bahamas were found nesting in a Tillandsia on the north shore of Southern Bight and in a hollow twig at Mangrove Cay; and from Cuba, three workers found by Dr. W. S. Creighton at Mina Carlota, Cumanyagua, Cuba, were found under a flake of stone on a limestone ridge. Since there was in this situation only a small collection of workers without brood or queen, and since several hours previously Dr. Creighton had cut down somecreepers and branches with a machete just above the spot where the ants were found, he believes that they were probably only a bivouacking remnant of a colony that he had driven from its nest in some twig or liana.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States. Neotropical Region: Bahamas, Cuba, Greater Antilles, Guatemala, Mexico.



Nomenclature

 *  floridanus. Xenomyrmex stolli subsp. floridanus Emery, 1895c: 275 (w.m.) U.S.A. Wheeler, W.M. 1931a: 136 (q.). Raised to species: Creighton, 1957c: 6. Senior synonym of rufescens: Creighton, 1950a: 226; of cubanus, lucayanus: Creighton, 1957c: 6. Current subspecies: nominal plus skwarrae.
 * cubanus. Xenomyrmex stolli subsp. cubanus Wheeler, W.M. 1931a: 134 (w.) CUBA. Junior synonym of floridanus: Creighton, 1957c: 6.
 * lucayanus. Xenomyrmex stolli subsp. lucayanus Wheeler, W.M. 1931a: 137 (w.) BAHAMAS. [First available use of Xenomyrmex stolli subsp. floridanus var. lucayanus Wheeler, W.M. 1905b: 87; unavailable name.] Junior synonym of floridanus: Creighton, 1957c: 6.
 * rufescens. Xenomyrmex stolli subsp. rufescens Wheeler, W.M. 1931a: 137 (q.) U.S.A. Junior synonym of floridanus: Creighton, 1950a: 226.

Worker
Wheeler (1931) - Length 1.7 mm.

Head somewhat narrower and somewhat more rectangular than in the typical stolli. Body paler, more yellowish brown, posterior borders of gastric segments, legs and antennae yellowish white; femora and last joint of antennal club yellowish brown like the body. Mesopleurae and sides of epinotum finely reticulate and less shining than the pronotum.

Queen
Wheeler (1931) - (dealated). Length 4 mm.

Head rectangular, with straight, parallel sides and posterior border, a fifth longer than broad. Eyes moderately large, flattened; ocelli small. Mandibles stout and convex. Thorax elongate-elliptical, three times as long as broad, narrower than the head. Mesonotum half as long as the thorax, fully half again as long as broad. Scutellum small; metanotum distinct but narrow. Epinotum short, subcuboidal, its base convex, as long as the somewhat concave and nearly perpendicular declivity. Petiole and postpetiole resembling those of the worker, the former half again as long as broad, the latter one third broader than the petiole. Gaster large, elongate, suboblong, as long as the remainder of the body.

Smooth and shining as in the worker, mandibles finely punctate, cheeks striate, subopaque, sides of head above coarsely and sparsely punctate. Pilosity on the body longer and more abundant than in the worker. Color somewhat darker brown, tibiae almost as dark as the femora. Mandibles of the same color as the head, last joint of antennal club black.

Male
Wheeler (1931) - (according to Emery) Length 1.75 mm. “The head is short, the eyes placed far forward; mandibles very small, obliquely truncated, the clypeus convex, unarmed. The scape of the antennae is cylindrical, slender, as long as the two succeeding joints together; the first funicular joint is scarcely thicker than the scape, spherical; the succeeding joints much thicker, about as long as broad, the four terminal joints longer, the last as long as the two preceding together. The thorax is unfortunately somewhat damaged, but it seems to show a trace of parapsidal furrows. The petiole resembles that of• the worker; the gaster is club-shaped, the genitalia very small. The wings are, injured, but seem to have a much reduced venation.”

Type Material
Wheeler (1931) - The worker specimens from which this form was described were taken by Theodore Pergande in a twig of a mastic tree Sideroxylon mastichodendron, at Lake Worth Florida. The male, described from a damaged specimen, belonged, perhaps, to another colony. I possess one of the cotype workers and a worker and three females taken by Dr. W. S. Blatchley at Dunedin, Florida.