Prionopelta antillana

Distribution
Prionopelta antillana has been introduced into Florida from the Lesser Antilles or Central America. Pest status: none. First published Florida record: Smith 1967; earlier specimen: 1957. It is common in rotten wood in parts of Marion and Sumter Counties. This is one of only two species of tropical exotic ants whose range in Florida does not include the tropical parts of the state. (Deyrup, Davis & Cover, 2000.)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Nearctic Region: United States. Neotropical Region: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Lesser Antilles, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.



Biology
The biology of this species has not been studied, but the closely related species Prionopelta amabilis is either monodomous or polydomous, and feeds on small soil arthropods, especially Campodeidae (Holldobler and Wilson 1986) (Deyrup, Davis & Cover, 2000).

Nomenclature

 *  antillana. Prionopelta punctulata subsp. antillana Forel, 1909a: 239 (w.) ANTILLES. Raised to species: Brown, 1960a: 177.