Nylanderia phantasma

This nocturnal species has a similar nesting pattern as Nylanderia arenivaga, with both possessing polydomous nests with numerous crater entrances (Trager, 1984). Reproductives are produced in the fall, and fly late in winter and early spring; workers are active foragers all year long (Trager, 1984). Nylanderia phantasma was originally thought to only occur in the Lake Wales Ridge area of central Florida, but populations have since been discovered in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia (MacGown et al., 2009). Its preference for xeric scrubland dunes may reflect refugia for species adapted to the semiarid areas formed 3,000–15,000 years ago (MacGown et al., 2009). The morphological similarities between N. phantasma and N. arenivaga, in both workers and males, and similar habitat preferences suggest they are sister taxa. Its range is similar to that of N. arenivaga (Kallal & LaPolla, 2012).

Distribution
This taxon was described from U.S.A.

Nomenclature

 *  phantasma. Paratrechina phantasma Trager, 1984b: 124, figs. 24, 26, 48 (w.q.m.) U.S.A. Combination in Nylanderia: LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck, 2010a: 127.

Additional References

 * Kallal, R.J. & LaPolla, J.S. 2012. Monograph of Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the World, Part II: Nylanderia in the Nearctic. Zootaxa 3508, 1-64.