Taxonomic revision of the Temnothorax salvini clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a key to the clades of New World Temnothorax
Author
Prebus, Matthew M.
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States & Department of Entomology & Nematology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States
mprebus@gmail.com
text
PeerJ
2021
e 11514
2021-06-30
9
1
462
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11514
journal article
10.7717/peerj.11514
e56413f9-7dc9-4ebc-9085-008cb38b4dc1
2167-8359
PMC8254503
34249486
5102026
pastinifer
group overview
With five species (one described as new here), the
pastinifer
group spans the low elevations of
the Bahamas
and
Cuba
(
Fig. 121
). This group is likely composed of littoral specialists, as it has only been collected from low-lying habitats near the sea. Most nest collections have been taken from wood or woody fruits lying on the ground. These distinctive species have extremely arched mesosomata, broad postpetioles, and incrassate femora, and so are prime examples of the
Macromischa
syndrome. Members of the
pastinifer
group may be confused with
Temnothorax subditivus
, members of the
pulchellus
group, or morphologically convergent members of the
sallei
clade. Because of multiple character overlaps between these groups, the keys above and the ‘similar species’ sections below should be used to determine species group membership. The nominal
T. pastinifer
and
T. rutabulafer
sp. nov.
have historically been conflated as a single species, probably due to a mixed pin prepared by W.M. Mann.