Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2017-02-06
Page range: 524–542
Abstract views: 108
PDF downloaded: 122

A review of the Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus and Pseudomyrmex goeldii species groups: acacia-ants and relatives (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Hymenoptera ants ant-plants Pseudomyrmecinae taxonomy Mesoamerica South America

Abstract

The Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus group contains the Mesoamerican acacia-ants, an assemblage of species that inhabit and protect swollen-thorn acacias (Vachellia spp.). Recent phylogenetic studies have confirmed the existence of two generalist (dead twig-inhabiting) species that are embedded within the P. ferrugineus group. They are described here as P. evitus sp. nov. (occurring from Mexico to Costa Rica) and P. feralis sp. nov. (Guatemala). The morphological definition of the P. ferrugineus group is revised to incorporate additional variability in the worker and queen castes. The previous diagnosis of the males, based largely on features of the genitalia, requires little revision. Closely related to the P. ferrugineus group is a clade of five predominantly South American species, here designated and diagnosed as the P. goeldii group. The five species, P. goeldii (Forel), P. laevifrons Ward, P. micans sp. nov., P. obtusus sp. nov., and P. parvulus sp. nov., are characterized and illustrated. P. laevifrons and P. micans are closely related and difficult to distinguish, possibly reflecting incomplete isolation. Keys are provided for the identification of the species in both groups.

 

References

  1. Benson, W.W. (1985) Amazon ant-plants. In: Prance, G.T. & Lovejoy, T.E. (Eds.), Key environments. Amazonia. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 239–266.

    Brown, W.L. Jr. (1949) Synonymic and other notes on Formicidae (Hymenoptera). Psyche (Cambridge), 56, 41–49.
    https://doi.org/10.1155/1949/54570

    Chomicki, G., Ward, P.S. & Renner, S.S. (2015) Macroevolutionary assembly of ant/plant symbioses: Pseudomyrmex ants and their ant-housing plants in the Neotropics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 282 (1819), 20152200.
    https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2200

    Davidson, D.W., Longino, J.T. & Snelling, R.R. (1988) Pruning of host plant neighbors by ants: an experimental approach. Ecology, 69, 801–808.
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1941029

    Forel, A. (1912) Formicides néotropiques. Part IV. 3me sous-famille Myrmicinae Lep. (suite). Mémoires de la Société Entomologique de Belgique, 20, 1–32.

    Gauld, I. & Bolton, B. (Eds.) (1988) The Hymenoptera. Oxford University Press, Oxford, xii + 322 pp.

    Harris, R.A. (1979) A glossary of surface sculpturing. California Department of Food and Agriculture. Laboratory Services, Entomology, Occasional Papers, 28, 1–31.

    Heil, M., González-Teuber, M., Clement, L.W., Kautz, S., Verhaagh, M. & Silva Bueno, J.C. (2009) Divergent investment strategies of Acacia myrmecophytes and the coexistence of mutualists and exploiters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 106, 18091–18096.
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0904304106

    Heil, M., Barajas-Barron, A., Orona-Tamayo, D., Wielsch, N. & Svatos, A. (2014) Partner manipulation stabilises a horizontally transmitted mutualism. Ecology Letters, 17, 185–192.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12215

    Janzen, D.H. (1966) Coevolution of mutualism between ants and acacias in Central America. Evolution, 20, 249–275.
    https://doi.org/10.2307/2406628

    Janzen, D.H. (1967) Interaction of the bull's-horn acacia (Acacia cornigera L.) with an ant inhabitant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea F. Smith) in eastern Mexico. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 47, 315–558.

    Janzen, D.H. (1973) Evolution of polygynous obligate acacia-ants in western Mexico. Journal of Animal Ecology, 42, 727–750.
    https://doi.org/10.2307/3134

    Kautz, S., Lumbsch, H.T., Ward, P.S. & Heil, M. (2009) How to prevent cheating: a digestive specialization ties mutualistic plant-ants to their ant-plant partners. Evolution, 63, 839–853.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00594.x

    Rubin, B.E.R. & Moreau, C.S. (2016) Comparative genomics reveals convergent rates of evolution in ant–plant mutualisms. Nature Communications, 7, 12679.
    https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12679

    Smith, F. (1877) Descriptions of new species of the genera Pseudomyrma and Tetraponera, belonging to the family Myrmicidae. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1877, 57–72.

    Ward, P.S. (1985) The Nearctic species of the genus Pseudomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae, 21, 209–246.

    Ward, P.S. (1989) Systematic studies on pseudomyrmecine ants: revision of the Pseudomyrmex oculatus and P. subtilissimus species groups, with taxonomic comments on other species. Quaestiones Entomologicae, 25, 393–468.

    Ward, P.S. (1991) Phylogenetic analysis of pseudomyrmecine ants associated with domatia-bearing plants. In: Huxley, C.R. & Cutler, D.F. (Eds.), Ant-plant interactions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 335–352.

    Ward, P.S. (1993) Systematic studies on Pseudomyrmex acacia-ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Pseudomyrmecinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 2, 117–168.

    Ward, P.S. (2017) Subfamilia Pseudomyrmecinae. In: Fernández, F., Guerrero, R. & Delsinne, T. (Eds.), Hormigas de Colombia. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. [in press]

    Ward, P.S. & Branstetter, M.L. (2017) The acacia ants revisited: convergent evolution and biogeographic context in an iconic ant/plant mutualism. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. [in press]

    Ward, P.S. & Downie, D.A. (2005) The ant subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): phylogeny and evolution of big-eyed arboreal ants. Systematic Entomology, 30, 310–335.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2004.00281.x

    Wheeler, W.M. (1942) Studies of Neotropical ant-plants and their ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 90, 1–262.

    Yoshimura, M. & Fisher, B.L. (2012) A revision of male ants of the Malagasy Amblyoponinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with resurrections of the genera Stigmatomma and Xymmer. PLoS ONE, 7 (3), e33325.
    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033325