Colobopsis riehlii

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

Nomenclature

 *  riehlii. Colobopsis riehlii Roger, 1863a: 159 (q.) CUBA.
 * Combination in Camponotus (Colobopsis): Emery, 1889b: 517.
 * Combination in Colobopsis: Ward, Blaimer & Fisher, 2016: 350.
 * Status as species: Roger, 1863b: 10; Mayr, 1863: 459; Dalla Torre, 1893: 249; Emery, 1896d 376 (in list); Wheeler, W.M. 1904b: 146; Wheeler, W.M. 1905b: 135; Wheeler, W.M. 1913b: 505; Emery, 1925b: 147; Kempf, 1972a: 42; Alayo, 1974: 27 (in key); Bolton, 1995b: 120; McArthur, 2012: 217; Deyrup, 2017: 199; Mackay & Mackay, 2018: 201 (redescription).
 * Senior synonym of baronii: Mackay & Mackay, 2018: 202.
 * Senior synonym of haweisi: Mackay & Mackay, 2018: 201.
 * Senior synonym of triton: Mackay & Mackay, 2018: 202.
 * baronii. Camponotus baronii Alayo & Zayas Montero, 1977: 1, fig. 1 (w.) CUBA.
 * Combination in C. (Manniella): Brandão, 1991: 332.
 * Status as species: Brandão, 1991: 332; Bolton, 1995b: 88.
 * Junior synonym of riehlii: Mackay & Mackay, 2018: 202.
 * haweisi. Camponotus (Colobopsis) culmicola var. haweisi Mann, 1920: 439 (s.q.) BAHAMAS.
 * Combination in Colobopsis: Ward, Blaimer & Fisher, 2016: 350.
 * Subspecies of culmicola: Emery, 1925b: 147; Kempf, 1972a: 42; Bolton, 1995b: 103; McArthur, 2012: 60.
 * Junior synonym of riehlii: Mackay & Mackay, 2018: 201.
 * triton. Camponotus (Colobopsis) triton Wheeler, W.M. 1934g: 217 (q.) BAHAMAS.
 * Combination in Colobopsis: Ward, Blaimer & Fisher, 2016: 350.
 * Status as species: Kempf, 1972a: 42; Bolton, 1995b: 128; McArthur, 2012: 219.
 * Junior synonym of riehlii: Mackay & Mackay, 2018: 202.

Type Material

 * C. triton: A single specimen taken at Fresh Creek, Andros Island, Bahamas by Dr. W. M. Mann. I have described this species from a female, because its coloration is so striking that it can be very readily recognized.

Queen
Length, 6.5 mm. Pale reddish brown, shining. Thorax paler than the head; gaster dark brown, head and gaster sparsely (thorax apparently not at all) provided with short, erect hairs. Head throughout as in Colobopsis truncata. The sculpture is not so irregular as in this species, but consists of large, foveolate, shallow, somewhat shining punctures, each of which has a small puncture in its center; similar punctures are seen in truncata on the sides of the head. The frontal carinae are almost parallel, in truncata they converge distinctly in front. There are three large ocelli. In front and behind the thorax is delicately striolate-reticulate, but very sparsely punctulate on the mesonotal disc. Petiole rounded above. Gaster transversely rugulose. Wings hyaline, somewhat iridescent, with pale yellow veins and stigma. The neuration is exactly as in Camponotus.

Based on Colobopsis triton.

Length 6.3 mm.

Head about one fourth longer than broad, with straight, parallel sides and broadly rounded anterior and posterior corners; posterior border broadly convex; the anterior truncation, which has a very blunt border both laterally and posteriorly, extending back to the posterior fourth of the clypeus. Eyes large, moderately convex, distant less than half their length from the posterior, and fully twice their length from the anterior corners of the head. Mandibles 6-toothed, stout, flattened, with moderately convex external borders. Clypeus flattened anteriorly, convex posteriorly, ecarinate, suboblong, nearly one fourth longer than broad, slightly broader behind than in front, its anterior and lateral borders crenulate, its posterior border notched in the middle. Frontal area absent; frontal groove distinct, extending back to the anterior ocellus; frontal carinre straight, widely separated and diverging, reaching beyond the median level of the eyes. Antennal scapes rather stout, curved at the base, their tips reaching nearly one third their length beyond the posterior corners. Thorax broader than the head, elongate-elliptical, nearly two and one-half times as long as broad; mesonotum somewhat longer than broad; epinotum short and convex, without differentiated base and declivity. Petiolar scale low, nodiform, nearly twice as broad as long, rounded anteriorly, posteriorly, laterally and dorsally. Gaster elongate-elliptical. Legs rather slender.

Shining and very finely shagreened; mandibles and anterior half of head more opaque, sharply and regularly reticulate-rugose; the mandibles also finely punctate between the meshes.

Pilosity yellow, short, erect, absent on the thorax and petiole, sparse on the gaster; mandibles and anterior half of head with numerous short, erect, blunt and clavate hairs. Pubescence pale, short, appressed, visible only on the legs and antennae.

Yellow; gaster paler, more whitish yellow than the thorax, petiole and legs, fifth segment entirely and fourth except at the base, deep castaneous. Head, mandibles and antennae reddish yellow, with the occipital region paler and of the same color as the thorax. Insertions of wings with a small black spot. Wings whitish, with very pale, whitish yellow veins and pterostigma.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Alayo D. P. 1974. Introduccion al estudio de los Himenopteros de Cuba. Superfamilia Formicoidea. Academia de Ciencias de Cuba. Instituto de Zoologia. Serie Biologica no.53: 58 pp. La Habana.
 * Deyrup M. 2016. Ants of Florida: identification and natural history. CRC Press, 423 pages.
 * Emery C. 1886. Saggio di un catalogo sistematico dei generi Camponotus, Polyrhachis e affini. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze dell'Istituto di Bologna 5: 363-382
 * Fontanla Rizo J.L. 1997. Lista preliminar de las hormigas de Cuba. Cocuyo 6: 18-21.
 * Fontenla J. L., and J. Alfonso-Simonetti. 2018. Classification of Cuban ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) into functional groups. Poeyana Revista Cubana de Zoologia 506: 21-30.
 * Fontenla Rizo J. L. 1997. Lista preliminar de las hormigas de Cuba (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Cocuyo 6: 18-21.
 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * Kusnezov N. 1963. Zoogeografia de las hormigas en sudamerica. Acta Zoologica Lilloana 19: 25-186
 * Reyes, J. L.. "Inventario de la colección de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) del Centro Oriental de Ecosistemas y Biodiversidad, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba." Boletín de la Sociedad Aragonesa 36 (2005): 279-283.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1904. The American ants of the subgenus Colobopsis. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 20: 139-158.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1905. The ants of the Bahamas, with a list of the known West Indian species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 21: 79-135.
 * Wheeler W. M. 1913. The ants of Cuba. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 54: 477-505.