Strumigenys gundlachi

AntWiki: The Ants --- Online
Strumigenys gundlachi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Strumigenys
Species: S. gundlachi
Binomial name
Strumigenys gundlachi
(Roger, 1862)

Pyramica gundlachi casent0103867 profile 1.jpg

Pyramica gundlachi casent0103867 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen Label

Synonyms

This widespread species is found in leaf litter where it is a predator on smaller arthropods.

At a Glance • Limited invasive  

Identification

Bolton (2000) - A member of the gundlachi-complex in the Strumigenys gundlachi group. Within the gundlachi-complex, gundlachi has four close relatives: Strumigenys denticulata, Strumigenys eggersi, Strumigenys enopla and Strumigenys jamaicensis. The first three are very widely distributed but the last two are restricted to Colombia and Jamaica respectively. The five species together share the following combination of characters.

1. Mandibles moderate to very long, MI 58 - 85, with inner margins concave to very shallowly convex; the inner margins do not meet at any point except the extreme apex.

2. Between the apicodorsal and apicoventral teeth of the apical fork are 2 minute intercalary denticles that arise in the space between the teeth, not from the ventral surface of the upper tooth.

3. Preapical dentition consists of 4 - 12 denticles or small teeth. The pair of labral trigger hairs are long and very often are adherent or twisted together, at least in preserved material, so that distal of the extreme base only a single hair may appear to be present.

4. Main pilosity: leading edge of scape with curved hairs that are narrowly spatulate and relatively fine. Apicoscrobal and pronotal humeral hairs present, often sub flagellate to flagellate, or looped ; sometimes these hairs may be filiform or elongate and narrowly remiform. The cephalic dorsum has 2 pairs of standing hairs: one close to highest point of vertex , the other close to the occipital margin. A single pair of erect hairs occurs on the mesonotum.

5. Postpetiole is always densely reticulate-punctate.

Of the 5 species denticulata and eggersi have postpetiolar spongiform lobes that are at best extremely reduced and usually completely absent. P. denticulata has relatively very long mandibles (MI 72 - 85 as opposed to MI 58 - 65 in eggersi). The first gastral tergite of eggersi is always distinctly reticulate to reticulate-punctate whereas in denticulata the tergite is at most superficially reticulate near the base. In gundlachi and jamaicensis the postpetiolar spongiform lobes are distinct, though they may be small in the former. P. gundlachi is widely distributed, dull yellow to yellowish-brown in colour and has tiny mandibular preapical denticles and a small ventral postpetiolar lobe. P. jamaicensis is restricted to Jamaica, is blackish brown to black in colour, has strongly developed and very conspicuous preapical mandibular denticles, and a large ventral postpetiolar lobe. P. enopla, which appears to be restricted to Colombia, falls between these two pairs as its ventral postpetiolar lobe, whilst present, tends to be small or very small. It is a darkly coloured species (blackish-brown to black) with long scapes, and its mesonotum always bears a pair of long straggly flagellate hairs.

P. gundlachi, together with eggersi, are the only species of this group to have been recorded from the U.S.A., where they are apparently restricted to Florida (Brown, 1960a; D. R. Smith, 1979; Deyrup, Johnson, et al., 1989).

Longino (Ants of Costa Rica) - Mandibles in full-face view linear, elongate and narrow; leading edge of scape with freely projecting hairs; inner margin of mandible without a tooth or distinctly enlarged denticle at or near the midlength; labral lobes short, trigger hairs at apices of lobes long; mandibles straight, with weakly convex inner borders, each bearing 4-9 minute denticles on distal 1/2; spongiform appendages present on ventral surface of petiole and postpetiole (in constrast to eggersi); first gastral tergum smooth and shining (in constrast to eggersi).

Keys including this Species

Distribution

This species has been introduced into Florida, where it is an uncommon species in mesic woods and gardens in Dade, Monroe, and Collier counties. Pest status: none. First published Florida record: Brown 1960. (Deyrup, Davis & Cover, 2000.)

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 23.133° to -0.6364°.

 
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States.
Neotropical Region: Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba (type locality), Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Greater Antilles, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
pChart

Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
pChart

Biology

Brown (1960) - E. O. Wilson (unpubl. notes) kept a colony of gundlachi for over a month in Cuba, during which time it captured and consumed entomobryoid and sminthurid collembolans, but ignored poduroids, a small cricket nymph, various mites and minute millipeds. Hunting is usually of the relatively immobile ambush type, which is to say that the ants approach the prey and, when close enough to detect its position, freeze with mandibles held open toward it (at an angle of 60-70 degrees in this case). However, sometimes workers approach the prey and strike quickly and directly, without waiting. If prey is struck and continues to struggle, it is lifted off the ground and stung in the usual manner of Strumigenys.

McCluskey and I found this species in nearly every berlesate of upper soil and leaf litter that we examined on Barro Colorado. Island; it is evidently there the most common dacetine species and one of the more frequent ant species of the forest floor. Wilson found gundlachi to be somewhat less abundant in Veracruz. Although it is abundant in tropical rain forest, it also lives in second-growth forest, thickets, and cacao plantations. Weber (I952) took a sample deep in a cave on Trinidad among manure and debris from the oil-birds (Steatornis) and bats living there.

Brown (1962) - In many parts of the Caribbean countries, this is a very abundant ant in the leaf litter of tropical forest, thickets and plantations, and it tolerates a wide variety of ecological conditions.

Deyrup (1997) - This species seems to require habitats that are slightly damper than those accepted by Strumigenys eggersi.

Regional Information

Costa Rica

Longino (Ants of Costa Rica) - In Costa Rica gundlachi is very common in moist to wet lowland forest. It also occurs in the very wet mid-elevation forest of the Atlantic slope of the Tilaran and Guanacaste Cordilleras, but has not been observed in similar habitats in the Cordillera Central (in spite of many Winkler samples from mid-elevation sites in Braulio Carrillo National Park). It occurs in the moist evergreen forest band on the Pacific slopes of the Tilaran and Guanacaste Cordilleras, but does not occur in nearby cloud forest.

Flight Period

X X X X X X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: Kaspari et al., 2001.

Life History Traits

  • Queen number: monogynous (Frumhoff & Ward, 1992)

Castes

Worker

MCZ ENT Strumigenys gundlachi hef 11.jpgMCZ ENT Strumigenys gundlachi hal 8x.jpgMCZ ENT Strumigenys gundlachi had 8x.jpgMCZ ENT Strumigenys gundlachi lbs.jpg
. Owned by Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Images from AntWeb

Pyramica gundlachi casent0103867 head 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0103867 profile 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0103867 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0103867 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0103867. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.
Pyramica gundlachi casent0178639 head 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0178639 profile 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0178639 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0178639 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0178639. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MIZA, Maracay, Venezuela.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Pyramica gundlachi casent0178650 head 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0178650 profile 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0178650 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0178650 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0178650. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MIZA, Maracay, Venezuela.
Pyramica gundlachi casent0103799 head 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0103799 profile 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0103799 dorsal 1.jpgPyramica gundlachi casent0103799 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0103799. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ABS, Lake Placid, FL, USA.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • gundlachi. Pyramica gundlachi Roger, 1862a: 253, pl. 1, fig. 18 (w.) CUBA. Brown, 1960b: 44 (q.). Combination in Strumigenys: Roger, 1863b: 40; in S. (Pyramica): Brown, 1948e: 110; in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673; in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 120. Senior synonym of banillensis, berlesei, bierigi, infuscata, isthmica, vincentensis: Brown, 1960b: 40. See also: Bolton, 2000: 186.
  • vincentensis. Strumigenys eggersi var. vincentensis Forel, 1893g: 378 (w.) ANTILLES. Junior synonym of gundlachi: Brown, 1960b: 40.
  • banillensis. Strumigenys eggersi var. banillensis Santschi, 1930e: 80 (w.) CUBA. Combination in S. (Pyramica): Brown, 1948e: 110. Junior synonym of gundlachi: Brown, 1960b: 40.
  • bierigi. Strumigenys bierigi Santschi, 1930e: 80 (w.) CUBA. Combination in S. (Pyramica): Brown, 1948e: 110. Junior synonym of gundlachi: Brown, 1960b: 40.
  • isthmica. Strumigenys (Strumigenys) eggersi var. isthmica Santschi, 1931c: 276 (w.) PANAMA. Junior synonym of gundlachi: Brown, 1960b: 40.
  • berlesei. Strumigenys eggersi var. berlesei Weber, 1934a: 36 (q.) CUBA. Junior synonym of gundlachi: Brown, 1960b: 40.
  • infuscata. Strumigenys (Strumigenys) eggersi subsp. infuscata Weber, 1934a: 35 (w.q.) CUBA. Junior synonym of gundlachi: Brown, 1960b: 40.

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Bolton (2000) - A short series (4 workers) from Colombia: El Campano, collected by W.L. Brown (MCZ) are at the upper end of the gundlachi size range (HL ca 0.52, HW ca 0.40, ML ca 0.34, MI ca 64, AL ca 0. 52); they are uniformly brown in colour. Their heads are slightly narrower and scapes consequently slightly longer than usual (CI ca 75 , SI ca 80). Their mandibles are a little stouter and with inner margins more convex than usual, and the preapical denticles are somewhat more pronounced. The ventral spongiform lobe of the postpetiole is extremely small. They may represent a close but distinct sibling species, or may be a darker coloured higher altitude population of gundlachi.

Description

Worker

Bolton (2000) - TL 1.7 - 2.2, HL 0.42 - 0.52, HW 0.34 - 0.42 , CI 77 - 85 , ML 0.25 - 0.35, MI 59 - 67, SL 0.20 - 0.30, SI 57 - 75, PW 0.22 - 0.28, AL 0.41 - 0.54 (25 measured).

Characters of gundlachi-complex; see also comparison with closest relatives in the identification section. Inner margin of mandible more or less straight to shallowly convex, with 4 - 9 preapical denticles located in the apical half or more of the length. Often the denticles very small and difficult to see easily. Pronotal dorsum without a pair of standing hairs anteriorly; pronotal humeral hair usually (but not always) flagellate. Pair of standing hairs on mesonotum sometimes simple, but may be hooked , looped apically, or have a short flagelliform apical section. Spongiform appendages of postpetiole present, small but distinct; height of ventral lobe in profile at most about half the height of the postpetiolar cuticular surface and usually less. First gastral tergite smooth when clean, without distinct shagreenate or reticulate sculpture.

  • Brown 1960 Fig 1-4

    Brown 1960 Fig 1-4

  • Brown 1960 Fig 5-9

    Brown 1960 Fig 5-9

Type Material

Bolton (2000):

  • Lectotype worker (by designation of Brown, 1960a: 40), Cuba (Gundlach) (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna) [examined].
  • Strumigenys eggersi var. vincentensis Forel, 1893b: 378. Holotype worker, ANTILLES IS: St Vincent I., leeward side, forest near Chiteaubelais, 1000 ft, ix. under rotting leaves (H. H. Smith) (The Natural History Museum) [examined].
  • Strumigenys eggersi var. banillensis Santschi, 1930: 80. Holotype worker, CUBA: Havana, Sierra Banilla (Bierig) (Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel) [not seen].
  • Strumigenys bierigi Santschi, 1930: 80. Holotype worker, CUBA: Havana, Marianao (A. Bierig) (NHMB) [not seen].
  • Strumigenys (Strumigenys) eggersi var. isthmica Santschi, 1931: 276. Syntype workers, PANAMA: France Field, 2.v.1930 (A. Bierig) (NHMB) [not seen].
  • Strumigenys (Strumigenys) eggersi subsp. infuscata Weber, 1934a: 35. Syntype workers and queen, CUBA: Limones Seboruco, 4.viii.1933 (N.A. Weber) ; Cienfuegos, Soledad, vii.1932 (D. M. Bates & G.B. Fairchild) (Museum of Comparative Zoology) [not seen].
  • Strumigenys eggersi var. berlesei Weber, 1934a: 36. Holotype queen, CUBA: Harvard Botanical Gardens, 29.viii.1933, berlesate of compost heap (N.A. Weber) (MCZ) [not seen].

Worker Morphology

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Worker Morphology data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • Caste: monomorphic

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Ahuatzin D. A., E. J. Corro, A. Aguirre Jaimes, J. E. Valenzuela Gonzalez, R. Machado Feitosa, M. Cezar Ribeiro, J. Carlos Lopez Acosta, R. Coates, W. Dattilo. 2019. Forest cover drives leaf litter ant diversity in primary rainforest remnants within human-modified tropical landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation 28(5): 1091-1107.
  • Alayo D. P. 1974. Introduccion al estudio de los Himenopteros de Cuba. Superfamilia Formicoidea. Academia de Ciencias de Cuba. Instituto de Zoologia. Serie Biologica no.53: 58 pp. La Habana.
  • Basset Y., L. Cizek, P. Cuenoud, R. K. Didham, F. Guilhaumon, O. Missa, V. Novotny, F. Odegaards, T. Roslin, J. Schmidl et al. 2012. Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest. Science 338(6113): 1481-1484.
  • Bezdeckova K., P. Bedecka, and I. Machar. 2015. A checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Peru. Zootaxa 4020 (1): 101–133.
  • Boer P. 2019. Ants of Saba, species list. Accessed on January 22 2019 at http://www.nlmieren.nl/websitepages/SPECIES%20LIST%20SABA.html
  • Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
  • Brandao, C.R.F. 1991. Adendos ao catalogo abreviado das formigas da regiao neotropical (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Rev. Bras. Entomol. 35: 319-412.
  • Branstetter M. G. and L. Sáenz. 2012. Las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Guatemala. Pp. 221-268 in: Cano E. B. and J. C. Schuster. (eds.) 2012. Biodiversidad de Guatemala. Volumen 2. Guatemala: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, iv + 328 pp
  • Brown W. L. Jr. 1960. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: group of gundlachi (Roger). Psyche (Cambridge) 66: 37-52.
  • Brown W. L. Jr. 1962. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: synopsis and keys to the species. Psyche (Cambridge) 69: 238-267.
  • Dattilo W. et al. 2019. MEXICO ANTS: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic-Neotropical interface. Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2944
  • De la Mora, A., C. J. Murnen, and S. M. Philpott. 2013. Local and landscape drivers of ant-communities in Neotropical coffee landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation 22: 871-888.
  • Del Toro, I., M. Vázquez, W.P. Mackay, P. Rojas and R. Zapata-Mata. Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Tabasco: explorando la diversidad de la mirmecofauna en las selvas tropicales de baja altitud. Dugesiana 16(1):1-14.
  • Fernandes, P.R. XXXX. Los hormigas del suelo en Mexico: Diversidad, distribucion e importancia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
  • Fernández F., and E. E. Palacio. 1995. Hormigas de Colombia IV: nuevos registros de géneros y especies. Caldasia 17: 587-596.
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Field Museum Collection, Chicago, Illinois (C. Moreau)
  • Fontanla Rizo J.L. 1997. Lista preliminar de las hormigas de Cuba. Cocuyo 6: 18-21.
  • Fontenla J. L., and J. Alfonso-Simonetti. 2018. Classification of Cuban ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) into functional groups. Poeyana Revista Cubana de Zoologia 506: 21-30.
  • Fontenla Rizo J. L. 1997. Lista preliminar de las hormigas de Cuba (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Cocuyo 6: 18-21.
  • Guerrero R. J., and C. E. Sarmiento. 2010. Distribución altitudinal de hormigas (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) en la vertiente noroccidental de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia). Acta Zoologica mexicana (n.s.) 26(2): 279-302.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Kusnezov N. 1963. Zoogeografia de las hormigas en sudamerica. Acta Zoologica Lilloana 19: 25-186
  • Levings S. C. 1983. Seasonal, annual, and among-site variation in the ground ant community of a deciduous tropical forest: some causes of patchy species distributions. Ecological Monographs 53(4): 435-455.
  • Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Honduras. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-honduras
  • Longino J. T. L., and M. G. Branstetter. 2018. The truncated bell: an enigmatic but pervasive elevational diversity pattern in Middle American ants. Ecography 41: 1-12.
  • Longino J. T., J. Coddington, and R. K. Colwell. 2002. The ant fauna of a tropical rain forest: estimating species richness three different ways. Ecology 83: 689-702.
  • Longino J. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.
  • Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
  • Maes, J.-M. and W.P. MacKay. 1993. Catalogo de las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Nicaragua. Revista Nicaraguense de Entomologia 23.
  • Mertl A. L., J. F. A. Traniello, K. Ryder Wilkie, and R. Constantino. 2012. Associations of two ecologically significant social insect taxa in the litter of an amazonian rainforest: is there a relationship between ant and termite species richness? Psyche doi:10.1155/2012/312054
  • Morrison L. W. 1998. A review of Bahamian ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) biogeography. Journal of Biogeography 25: 561-571.
  • Quiroz-Robledo L., and J. Valenzuela-Gonzalez. 1995. A comparison of ground ant communities in a tropical rainforest and adjacent grassland in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico. Southwestern Entomologist 20(2): 203-213.
  • Salinas P. J. 2010. Catalogue of the ants of the Táchira State, Venezuela, with notes on their biodiversity, biogeography and ecology (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Amblyioponinae, Ponerinae, Proceratiinae, Myrmicinae, Ecitoninae, Formicinae, Pseudomyrmecinae, Dolichoderinae). Boletín de la SEA 47: 315-328.
  • Santschi F. 1930. Quelques fourmis de Cuba et du Brésil. Bulletin. Société Entomologique d'Egypte. 14: 75-83.
  • Santschi F. 1931. Fourmis de Cuba et de Panama. Revista de Entomologia (Rio de Janeiro). 1: 265-282.
  • Torres J.A. 1984. Niches and Coexistence of Ant Communities in Puerto Rico: Repeated Patterns. Biotropica 16(4): 284-295.
  • Torres, Juan A. and Roy R. Snelling. 1997. Biogeography of Puerto Rican ants: a non-equilibrium case?. Biodiversity and Conservation 6:1103-1121.
  • Vasquez-Bolanos M. 2011. Checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Mexico. Dugesiana 18(1): 95-133.
  • Vásquez-Bolaños M. 2011. Lista de especies de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para México. Dugesiana 18: 95-133
  • Weber N. A. 1934. Notes on neotropical ants, including the descriptions of new forms. Revista de Entomologia (Rio de Janeiro) 4: 22-59.
  • Weber N. A. 1952. Biological notes on Dacetini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). American Museum Novitates 1554: 1-7.
  • Weber N. A. 1952. Biological notes on Dacetini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). American Museum Novitates 1554: 1-7.
  • Wetterer J. K. 2018. Geographic Distributions of Strumigenys gundlachi and Strumigenys eggersi (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 144(1): 131-141.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1905. The ants of the Bahamas, with a list of the known West Indian species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 21: 79-135.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1913. The ants of Cuba. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 54: 477-505.
  • Wilson E. O. 1964. The ants of the Florida Keys. Breviora 210: 1-14.
  • van der Hammen T., and P. S. Ward. 2005. Ants from the Ecoandes expeditions: diversity and distribution. Studies on Tropical Andean Ecosystems 6: 239-248.
Retrieved from "https://antwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Strumigenys_gundlachi&oldid=690643"