Nylanderia of the World Part III: Nylanderia in the West Indies Kallal, Robert J. Zootaxa 2019 2019-08-23 4658 3 401 451 Kallal, 2019 Kallal 2019 [151,408,1340,1367] Insecta Formicidae Nylanderia GBIF Animalia Hymenoptera 21 422 Arthropoda species metacista sp. nov.   Figs. 43–45(worker); 46–51 (male)   Holotypeworker, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Cachote Forest, 18° 04.01’N, 71° 10.768’W, elev.  1054 m, cloud forest, nest under bark of rotting, fallen tree,  28.vii.2009, J.S. LaPolla& S.A. Schneider( USNM00754797) ( NMNH). 3 paratype workers, 1 paratype malewith same locality data as holotype(specimens are from the same nest as holotype) ( NMNH& MCZC).   Worker diagnosis:Brown head, mesosoma, and gaster contrasting with yellow legs and antennae; gastral tergites I & II with a dense layer of pubescence.  Compare with:  N. bibadia,  N. pini,  N. fuscaspecula  WORKER. Measurements (n=7): TL: 2.50–2.80; HW: 0.53–0.59; HL: 0.64–0.68; EL: 0.17–0.19; SL: 0.74– 0.78; WL: 0.80–0.89; GL: 0.90–1.30. SMC: 18–25; PMC: 3–6; MMC: 2. Indices:CI: 83–88; REL: 25–28; SI: 132–142; SI2: 22–24.  Head: sides of head in full face view nearly parallel; posterolateral corners rounded; posterior margin straight, occasionally very slight emarginated medially; anterior clypeal margin emarginate; ocelli absent; eye well-developed. Mesosoma: in lateral view, pronotum convex; anterior margin of mesonotum raised slightly above posterior pronotal margin; metanotal area without short flat area before spiracle; dorsal face of propodeum slightly convex; dorsal face of propodeum and mesonotum approximately the same height in lateral view. Color and pilosity: body brown; mandible, scape, legs, mesocoxa and metacoxa lighter brown; cephalic pubescence sparse; pronotum, mesonotum, anterior portion of propodeum with sparse pubescence; gastral tergites I & II with dense pubescence dorsally.   FIGURES 43–45.  Nylanderia metacistaworker USNMENT00921158. Lateral, full-face, and dorsal view of the body. QUEEN. Measurements (n=1): TL: 4.80; HW: 0.86; HL: 0.87; EL: 0.3; SL: 0.92; WL: 1.6; GL: 2.3. SMC: 8; PMC: 5; MMC: 27. Indices:CI: 98; REL: 34; SI: 107. Generally, as in worker with modifications expected for caste and with the following noted difference: lighter brown (to yellow) than seen in workers. MALE. Measurement (n=1): TL: 2.40; HW: 0.53; HL: 0.56; EL: 0.23; SL: 0.85; WL: 0.85; GL: 1.00. SMC: 4; PMC: 0; MMC: 8. Indices: CI: 94; REL: 41; SI: 161.  Head: sides of head in full face view nearly parallel becoming distinctly broader posterior to eyes; clypeus evenly rounded anteriorly; mandible with distinct apical tooth and much smaller subapical tooth adjacent to apical tooth; basal angle rounded and indistinct. Mesosoma: in lateral view, dorsal margin of mesoscutum same as height as dorsal margin of mesoscutellum; propodeum steeply sloping without distinct dorsal and declivitous faces. Genitalia: gonopod apex coming to triangular point in lateral view; in dorsal view, gonopod margin curves away from penial sclerite; digitus with pointed apex that bends away from penial sclerite; cuspis tubular, rounded at apex bending sharply towards digitus; anteroventral process of penial sclerite comes to a point with ventral margin of process emarginate; valvura of penial sclerite placed ventral to midline (fig. 105). Color and pilosity: yellow to light brown; head darker than remainder of body; head, scapes, mesosomal notum, legs and gastral dorsum with a layer of short pubescence; fine, wispy, silvery pubescence between the ocelli and the compound eyes.   Other material examined:  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: PedernalesPr., Sierra de  BahorucoNP, 18.14764 - 71.162321+/-  70 m, 1320 m,  III-2014, Lubertazzi, DL 03720-001; PedernalesPr., Sierra de  BahorucoNP, 18.15016 -71.62487+/-  110 m, 1290 m,  III-2014, Lubertazzi, DL03741:003;  Pedernales, Jaragua National Park, 18.07332 -71.65203+/-  120 m, 400 m,  27-III-2014.   FIGURES 46–51.  Nylanderia metacistamale USNMENT00754794. Full-face and lateral of the body; SEM images of external genitalia: ventral, close-up vollsellar lobes, dorsal, and lateral.  Etymology:Species epithet is a combination of cista(L. = box) with the prefix meta-(L. = end), named for thickened tips of the penial sclerites found in this species.  Notes:Workers of this species can usually be separated from  N. fuscaspeculaand  N. pinibased on the presence of dense pubescence of the first gastral tergite. Males of  N. metacistamales have a fine, wispy, silvery pubescence between the ocelli and the compound eyes. In contrast,  N. pinihas short, thick, dark brown pubescence and some pubescence free areas between the ocelli and the compound eyes. Separating  N. metacistafrom  N. bibadiacan generally be done with color:  N. metacistahas lighter brown workers, with distinct yellow antennae and legs, which contrasts against the darker workers of  N. bibadia. However, color is not always reliable and can be difficult to qualitatively assess.  Nylanderia metacistais overall smaller than  N. bibadia(especially with regards to head length and width). Male morphology provides some further characters for separating the two species. Males of  N. metacistaare brownish-yellow whereas  N. bibadiaare dark brown. Additionally, in  N. metacistathe gastral pubescence is very appressed against the cuticle. In contrast  N. bibadiapossess gastral pubescence that is less appressed, the gaster having a shaggy appearance. The anteroventral process of the penial sclerites in  N. metacistais distinctly emarginate in contrast to the broadly rounded anteroventral process of  N. bibadia. Uniquely among West Indian  Nylanderia N. bibadia,  N. metacistaand  N. pubenshave rather elongated penial sclerites. The valvurae of the penial sclerites in all three species are also ventral to the midline of the penial sclerites (fig. 105). It is not surprising that  N. metacistaand  N. bibadiaworkers can be challenging to separate from each other because molecular analyses indicate they are sister taxa ( Gotzek et al. 2012). 2351014967 2009-07-28 NMNH, MCZC J. S. LaPolla & S. A. Schneider Dominican Republic 1054 18.066833 Cachote Forest 9 -71.17947 21 422 USNM00754797 4 1 3 holotype 2351015066 [526,1133,1858,1885] Dominican Republic Pedernales 22 423 1 Pedernales 2351015026 2014-03 Dominican Republic 0 18.14764 Bahoruco 97 -71.16232 22 423 1 Baoruco 2351014997 2014-03 Dominican Republic 0 18.15016 Bahoruco 152 -71.62487 22 423 1 Baoruco 2351015027 2014-03-27 Dominican Republic 0 18.07332 Jaragua National Park 166 -71.65203 22 423 1 Pedernales