Eurhopalothrix floridana Brown & Kempf, 1960

Longino, John T., 2013, 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, Zootaxa 3693 (2), pp. 101-151 : 118-119

Eurhopalothrix floridana Brown & Kempf, 1960

( Figs 1 B, 1C, 2H, 18)

Eurhopalothrix floridana Brown & Kempf, 1960: 207 , fig. 34. Holotype worker: U.S.A., Florida, Highlands Co., Highlands Hammock, 15 Jun 1955, in leaf litter (H. S. Dybas, No. B-31) [FMNH] (not examined). Deyrup, Johnson & Davis, 1997: 183 (description of male).

Geographic range. USA (Florida, Puerto Rico), Dominican Republic.

Description. Worker. HW 0.62–0.71, HL 0.61–0.70, SL 0.40–0.45, SLL 0.08–0.10, CI 95–102, SLI 20–25 (n=4). Labrum as in Fig. 2 H, longer than broad, anterolateral gibbosities of basal portion developed as acute, ventrally-directed teeth, apical portion bluntly rounded apically, not at all bilobed; apex of labrum with fringe of thick translucent setae; 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 at base; tooth 2 long and acute; teeth 3–6 low, blunt; teeth 7 and 10 long and acute; teeth 8–9 shorter; scape with strongly developed basal lobe; scrobe deep, sharply delimited dorsally and ventrally, abutting deep antennal socket; surface of scrobe foveolate; eye with about 5 ommatidia across greatest diameter; clypeus convex posteromedially, sloping to slightly concave anterior apron, roughened; juncture of clypeus and frons impressed; sides of head above eyes strongly angulate; surface of face uniformly convex, roughened to shallowly rugulose; occipital carina a short carina dorsally, obsolete laterally; undersurface of head shallowly rugulose; postgenal suture a well-developed longitudinal trough.

Profile of promesonotum and dorsal face of propodeum forming more or less continuous convexity; promesonotal suture very faintly impressed on some specimens, such that mesonotum slightly differentiated from pronotum; metanotal groove impressed; dorsal and posterior faces of propodeum distinct, meeting at obtuse angle, dorsal face subequal in length to posterior face; propodeal spine laminar, translucent, acute, ventral margin continuous with relatively broad infradental lamella that extends down posterior face to propodeal lobe, ventral border straight to slightly concave; propodeal spiracle distinct, directed posteriorly; most of mesosoma, including posterior face of propodeum, uniformly covered with small puncta; mesonotum also uniformly punctate or sometimes slightly roughened like face; metapleural gland bulla smooth, matte; lacking transverse carinulae between propodeal spines.

Petiolar peduncle joins anterior face of petiolar node at obtuse angle; petiolar node subquadrate, anterior face rounding into convex dorsal face, which rounds into short posterior face; ventral margin of petiole with acute 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 or equal to width of puncta; first gastral sternite similar, but puncta and interspaces larger.

Dorsal surface of scape with uniform, short, appressed, flattened setae; leading edge of scape with projecting setae, shortest near apex, gradually lengthening to longest on basal lobe; ground pilosity on face similar to that on dorsal scape, uniformly distributed across face, frontal lobes, and clypeus, those on clypeus longitudinally oriented; undersurface of head with ground setae like those on face; projecting specialized setae strongly clavate to somewhat spatulate, 3– 4 x longer than wide, full complement 2, on vertex margin; ground pilosity sparse on promesonotal dorsum, petiolar node, and first gastral tergite, denser on postpetiole; 3 pairs projecting clavate setae on promesonotum; legs with moderately abundant, flattened, appressed setae on apices of femora, posterior face of foretibia, entire midtibia, anterior face of hindtibia, somewhat sparser on other surfaces; apex of foretibia with 1 larger clavate seta, apices of mid and hind tibia with 2; basitarsus and remaining tarsomeres with abundant, clavate 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 clavate, full complement 3 pairs in two longitudinal rows.

Color red brown.

Queen (previously undescribed). Although the queen has never been formally reported, images of a queen on AntWeb (CASENT0103902, from Florida) show it to have the typical similarities to the worker.

Comments. Deyrup et al. (1997) reviewed the status of E. floridana in Florida and described the male. The species was moderately abundant in hardwood hammocks throughout peninsular Florida but did not extend into the western panhandle. They speculated that the species could be exotic in Florida, and referred to a personal communication from W. L. Brown that the species occurred in Mexico. I have seen no material to verify the occurrence in Mexico, but J. Wetterer collected specimens on Mona Island, Puerto Rico, and D. Lubertazzi collected specimens along a roadside in the Dominican Republic. These specimens are nearly identical to specimens from Florida, although there is some variation in number of erect setae. On the two Mona Island specimens, one has a cluster of 2 setae on the face and one has 3. Both have the full complement of 6 setae on the promesonotum. On the two Dominican Republic specimens, one has a cluster of 3 setae on the face, 3 setae down one side of the promesonotum, and 1 seta on the opposite side, paired with the posteriormost. The other one has no setae on the face and 2 on the mesonotum. How much these patterns are due to seta loss is unknown, but the base number could be a cluster of 4 on the face, like E. apharogonia , and 6 on the promesonotum. The biogeographic history of this species, in Florida and elsewhere, remains enigmatic.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Eurhopalothrix mandibles, showing simple versus double tooth row. A. Dorsal face of mandible, E. oscillum. Teeth are numbered from 1 at the base to 11 at the apex. B. Dorsal face of mandible, E. floridana, with 10 teeth in outer row. C. Interior face of mandible, E. floridana. Lines point to inner tooth row. For species with an inner tooth row, note common condition in which outer tooth 1 is somewhat broadened, tooth 2 is long and sharp like inner teeth, teeth 3 – 6 are shorter and not as sharp, teeth 7 – 10 are slightly developed as an apical fork, with outer teeth long and inner teeth short.

FIGURE 2. Eurhopalothrix labra. A. E. bolaui (Nicaragua, CASENT 0619922). B. E. semicapillum (Costa Rica, CASENT 0639342). C. E. ortizae (Costa Rica, LACM ENT 143281). D. E. gravis (Costa Rica, INB 0003212299). E. E. sepultura (Mexico, CASENT 0639334). F. E. mabuya (Cuba, CASENT 0630193). G. E. xibalba (Costa Rica, INB 0003698926). H. E. floridana (USA, LACM ENT 143276). I. E. cimu (Cuba, CASENT 0639337). A – H are dissected labra imaged in fluid. I is dry-mounted specimen, basal portion is not visible, and maxilla are visible in background. With the exception of E. cimu, specimen codes are for dry-mounted specimens from the same series, not the dissected specimen. Images are not to scale.