Megalomyrmex iheringi Forel, 1911

Brandão, Carlos Roberto F., 2003, Further Revisionary Studies On The Ant Genus Megalomyrmex Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Solenopsidini) C R F. B Abstract, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo) 43 (8), pp. 145-159 : 148

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1590/S0031-10492003000800001
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1D368786-FFB7-8619-FF7C-FCDBC4738174
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Megalomyrmex iheringi Forel, 1911
status

Treatment

Megalomyrmex iheringi Forel, 1911 View in CoL

The Estação Biológica de Boracéia, from where most of the few known samples of M. iheringi came from, is located some 70 Km in straight line from the previously mentioned Ilha de São Sebastião. This island is separated from the mainland by the relatively narrow São Sebastião Channel (less than 2 Km in the narrower width), and it is covered by vegetation which is very similar to that of the Serra do Mar. In my 1990 revision, I listed a worker of M. goeldii from Boracéia, although a re-examination of this individual led me to re-identify it as a very small M. iheringi . This raises doubts on the identity of M. iheringi , as I used overall size as the main diagnostic character between them. This was also the only locality where sympatry was ever recorded among these two species (see below). It seems premature to consider them conspecific given that the two species consistently differ in the length of the trunk.

I also studied a worker ( CPDC collection # 143) from Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho, São Paulo state, Brazil (24°00’-20’S, 47°44’-48’W) collected with “Taz” (sic) bait by Y.M.B. Neptume in January 13, 1991. This collection was made probably around the headquarters of the Park. The latter covers parts of Eldorado Paulista, Sete Barras, Tapirai and São Miguel Arcanjo counties. This is an additional record of M. iheringi with consistently larger measurements of Weber’s length of thunk than in any M. goeldii .

Recently, Tavares (2002) collected a worker of M. iheringi at 750 m of altitude from sea level in Base Barra Grande, Parque Estadual Intervales (24°17’02”S, 47°45’20’30”W), São Paulo state, Brazil, syntopic with M. goeldii , also from 1 m 2 litter samples subjected to Winkler extractor. This is the southernmost record for this species.