Myrmecophilus mayaealberti

There are sixty-three species of myrmecophiles in the genus Myrmecophilus.

Distribution
Seychelles (Mahe)

Biology
Males of M. mayaealberti n. sp. were observed on several occasions indoors in the company of two cosmotropical "tramp" ant species, the "yellow crazy ant", Anoplolepis gracilipes (Smith, 1857), and the "black crazy ant", Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, to 1 802). be "evacuations" In each case they of nests were in accompanying crevices in the workers kitchen and carrying bathroom brood walls during of what a bedsitter appeared flat at Anse Nord-Est on Mahé island, or under linoleum sheets on the floor inside the flat. The crickets even crept up vertical surfaces of walls as they moved along with the ants along trails leading away from the nests. It was not possible to observe any of these "evacuations" for prolonged periods, but up to two males of M. mayaealberti n. sp. were seen within the first five minutes of any observation. Individual females were observed on at least four occasions wandering on the floor or on vertical surfaces of walls, unaccompanied by ants but within less than a metre of crevices occupied by nesting A. gracilipes. All sightings of M. mayaealberti n. sp. were made between 21 :00 and 23 : 30 hrs. No crickets were observed on ordinary foraging trails of either ant species, although in North America M. manni Schimmer, 191 1, is known to be "active on foraging trails", this involving "both sexes and all nymphal instars" (Henderson & Akre, 1986) ; but more detailed research needs to be conducted to confirm that M. mayaealberti n. sp. does not also behave in this manner. In the case of M. manni it is known that "crickets relocate with the (ant) colony by using the trails (established by the relocating ants)" (Henderson & Akre, 1986). The sightings at Anse Nord-Est, as well as the previously reported occurrence on Bird Island of Myrmecophilus sp. in the company of the ant A. gracilipes (Hill et al., 2003), confirm the association between some Myrmecophilus species and invasive ants (HUGEL & Blard, 2005). At this stage, we can only speculate as to whether M. mayaealberti n. sp. is an exotic species that has been introduced to Seychelles with invasive alien ants, or whether it is a native (possibly endemic) species that has been able to adapt to alien hosts.

Ant host:Anoplolepis gracilipes and Paratrechina longicornis