A review of the Central American and Caribbean species of the ant genus Eurhopalothrix Brown and Kempf, 1961 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), with a key to New World species
Author
Longino, John T.
text
Zootaxa
2013
3693
2
101
151
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3693.2.1
5f8f53af-f522-4d05-a0ec-b7495aed4c66
1175-5326
249157
46D89ABD-850E-45AE-A978-DDEF689F2EC9
Eurhopalothrix sepultura
Longino
,
sp. nov.
(
Figs 2
E, 6C, 31, 35)
Type
material.
Holotype
worker
:
Mexico
, Chiapas: Sierra Morena, 16.15289 -93.60055, ±
50 m
,
1330 m
,
12 May 2008
, second growth mesophil forest, ex sifted leaf litter (LLAMA Wa-A-
01-2-42
) [CAS, unique specimen identifier CASENT0603545].
Paratype
workers, queen
: same data as
holotype
but 16.15296 -93.60042 (LLAMA Wa-A-
01-2-45
) [CAS, CASENT0603550 (dealate queen)]; same data but 16.1602 -93.60572, ±
100 m
,
1322 m
,
Liquidambar
forest litter, ex sifted leaf litter (R. S. Anderson 2008-001) [ECOSCE, JTLC000014118]; same data but 16.16121 -93.60024, ±
100 m
,
1367 m
,
15 May 2008
(R. S. Anderson 2008-008) [USNM, JTLC000014128]; same data but 16.1595 -93.6053, ±
300 m
,
1360 m
,
12 May 2008
, second growth mesophil forest, ex sifted leaf litter (LLAMA Wm-A-01-1) [MCZC, JTLC000014129; MZSP, JTLC000014130; UCDC, JTLC000014131].
Geographic range.
Mexico
(Chiapas).
Diagnosis.
Mandible with double tooth row; face with 4 or 5 pairs erect setae, arranged as medial rectangle of 2 pairs flanked anterolaterally by 1 or 2 pairs; pronotum lacking specialized setae; ground pilosity of face very sparse, thin, inconspicuous. Similar to
E. apharogonia
,
E. floridana
,
E. speciosa
,
E. vulcan
.
Description.
Worker
. HW 0.68–0.71, HL 0.73, SL 0.43–0.44, SLL 0.08–0.09, CI 93–97, SLI 20–22 (n=2). Labrum as in
Fig. 2
E, longer than broad, anterolateral gibbosities of basal portion developed as acute, ventrallydirected teeth, apical portion distinctly bilobed apically; apex of labral lobes with fringe of thick translucent setae, apical setae capitate and strongly flattened; mandible triangular, dorsal surface convex, punctulate, rounding into ventral surface; interior surface concave, smooth and shining; masticatory margin with two tooth rows, an outer row of 10 teeth and an inner row of 3 long needle-shaped teeth, behind outer teeth 3–6 and projecting beyond them, nearly
2x
length of flanking outer teeth; tooth 1 of outer row broader than others, bluntly rounded; remaining teeth narrow and sharply acute; teeth 2, 7 and 10 longer than others; scape with strongly developed basal lobe; scrobe deep, sharply delimited dorsally and ventrally, abutting deep antennal socket; surface of scrobe foveolate anteriorly, smooth and opalescent posteriorly; eye with about 5 ommatidia across greatest diameter; clypeus approximately planar posteromedially, sloping to anterior apron and shallow concavities anterolaterally, punctulate, sublucid; juncture of clypeus and frons deeply impressed; sides of head above eyes strongly angulate; surface of face uniformly convex, coarsely rugose, sublucid, with prominent medial longitudinal carina that extends from posterior border of clypeus nearly to vertex margin; posterior face of vertex broad, concave, meeting dorsal face at blunt angle; occipital carina a short carina dorsally, obsolete laterally; undersurface of head shallowly and inconspicuously punctate, much smoother than dorsal sculpture; postgenal suture a well-developed longitudinal trough.
Profile of promesonotum and dorsal face of propodeum forming more or less continuous convexity; metanotal groove impressed; anterior border of dorsal face of propodeum delimited with small, raised rim; dorsal and posterior faces of propodeum distinct, meeting at obtuse angle, dorsal face shorter than posterior face; propodeal spine laminar, translucent, acute, ventral margin curving into narrow infradental lamella that extends down posterior face to propodeal lobe; propodeal spiracle distinct, directed posteriorly; promesonotum punctate anteriorly, grading to irregularly rugulose posteriorly, a prominent median rugule forms a short elevated longitudinal keel on posterior mesonotum between posteriormost pair of spatulate setae (similar to
E. hunhau
) (absent on some specimens); lateral pronotum, dorsal face of propodeum, upper side of propodeum punctate; posterior face of propodeum feebly foveolate; anepisternum, katepisternum, and lower side of propodeum smooth, matte, a single ruga arches across katepisternum; lacking transverse carinulae between propodeal spines.
Petiolar peduncle joins anterior face of petiolar node at obtuse angle; petiolar node subquadrate, anterior face meets flat-topped dorsal face at rounded right angle, sloping dorsal face rounds into short posterior face; ventral margin of petiole with spiniform anteroventral tooth; postpetiole low and broad, with a shallow longitudinal sulcus dorsally; first gastral sternite lacking anterior sagittal keel; petiole, postpetiole, first gastral tergite covered with dense, small, puncta, interspaces less than width of puncta; first gastral sternite similar, but puncta and interspaces larger.
Dorsal surface of scape with a few flattened, decumbent setae on basal lobe and along leading edge, obsolete elsewhere; leading edge of scape with projecting setae, shortest near apex, gradually lengthening and becoming more strongly spatulate toward base; ground pilosity on face nearly obsolete, very sparse, short, thin, fully appressed, uniformly distributed across face, frontal lobes, and clypeus, those on clypeus longitudinally oriented; ground pilosity more prominent on undersurface of head, of conspicuous, flattened, decumbent setae; projecting specialized setae spatulate,
3x
longer than wide, full complement 8–10, a medial rectangle of 2 pairs, an additional 2 or 3 between medial rectangle and compound eye; ground pilosity obsolete on dorsal mesosoma, petiole, postpetiole, and first gastral tergite; specialized setae absent on pronotum, full complement, when present, 2 pairs on mesonotum; legs with moderately abundant, flattened, decumbent setae on posterior face of foretibia, entire midtibia, anterior face of hindtibia, somewhat sparser on other surfaces; apices of tibiae with 1 larger spatulate seta; basitarsus and remaining tarsomeres with abundant, clavate to spatulate setae; two clavate setae on hind margin of dorsal face of petiolar node; row of 4 clavate setae on hind margin of postpetiole; specialized setae of first gastral tergite spatulate, full complement 4 pairs in two longitudinal rows, posteriormost row flanked by an additional pair (4 setae along posterior border of tergite).
Color red brown.
Queen
. HW 0.73, HL 0.77, SL 0.47, SLL 0.11, CI 95, SLI 23 (n=1). Similar to worker in most respects; ocelli present; compound eye much larger than worker eye; anepisternum separated from katepisternum by U-shaped groove; metapleuron separated from propodeum by broad U-shaped groove; pronotum punctate; anepisternum with elongate, partially confluent puncta dorsally, smooth and sublucid ventrally; katepisternum largely smooth and shining, with narrow rim of puncta posteriorly; lower side of propodeum smooth, matte; upper side of propodeum punctate; mesoscutum punctatorugose; scutellum coarsely rugose; pronotum with 1 pair spatulate setae; mesoscutum with 6 setae, outermost spatulate, inner 4 smaller, clavate; axilla with spatulate seta; scutellum with 1 pair spatulate setae; petiolar node, postpetiole, and first gastral tergite with specialized setae similar to worker.
Biology
. This species occurs in the cloud forests and montane
Liquidambar
, oak, and pine forests of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, from
1300–1800 m
elevation. All collections are from Winkler or Berlese samples of sifted leaf litter and rotten wood. The species occurred in 9–15% of quantitative miniWinkler samples.
Etymology
. The name is in reference to La
Sepultura
Biosphere Reserve in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. It is a noun in apposition and thus invariant.