Syscia augustae (Wheeler, W.M., 1902)

Aguilar-Mendez, Mario J., Rosas-Mejia, Madai, Vasquez-Bolanos, Miguel, Gonzalez-Hernandez, Gloria Angelica & Janda, Milan, 2021, New distributional records for ants and the evaluation of ant species richness and endemism patterns in Mexico, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 60630-60630 : 60630

Syscia augustae (Wheeler, W.M., 1902)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: lifeStage: adult; reproductiveCondition: non-reproductive; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia ; phylum: Arthropoda ; class: Insecta ; order: Hymenoptera ; family: Formicidae ; genus: Syscia ; scientificNameAuthorship: (Wheeler, W.M., 1902); Location : country: Mexico; stateProvince: Queretaro; locality: Sierra Gorda ; verbatimElevation: 2575 m; decimalLatitude: 21.11977; decimalLongitude: -99.6599; Identification: identifiedBy: Aguilar-Méndez M.J.; Rosas-Mejía M.; Vásquez-Bolaños M.; Event: samplingProtocol: Hand collecting; year: 2017; month: 11; day: 21; habitat: induced grassland

Distribution

Syscia augustae (Wheeler W.M., 1902) were found on an induced grassland in Jalpan De La Sierra, Queretaro, at 2575 m a.s.l., 18.3 ºC of amt and 45.5 mm/cm2 of amp. This species has been recorded in all the U.S. southern border States. In Mexico, they are recorded in Baja California Peninsula, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave and Oaxaca. Recently, Borowiec (2016) recorded this species in southeast Asia, in Borneo, Japan and India.

Biology

Syscia augustae is a subterranean, blind ant with predatory behaviour ( Wheeler 1902). These ants can be found in the leaf litter, under stones and in branches on the soil, usually in moist habitats ( MacKay and Mackay 2002).