Polyergus longicornis

Polyergus longicornis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Formicini
Genus:	Polyergus
Species group:	lucidus
Species:	P. longicornis
Binomial name
Polyergus longicornis Smith, M.R., 1947 Specimen Labels

A southeastern US species that exclusively raids nests of Formica dolosa.

At a Glance

• Dulotic

Identification

P. longicornis is most likely to be confused with Polyergus ruber and especially Polyergus sanwaldi. Polyergus longicornis is distinguished from the largely sympatric ruber by its more abundant vertex pilosity, ½ VeM 13 + vs. 12 or less, nearly uniformly matte mesosoma and cephalic integument, and parasitism of Formica dolosa rather than Formica biophilica. Polyergus longicornis is distinguished from the allopatric, more northern P. sanwaldi by its proportionally longer scapes and legs, and its slightly narrower head.

Keys including this Species

• Key to Polyergus Species
• Key to US Polyergus species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 36.07316667° to 30.491°.

North Temperate	North Subtropical	Tropical	South Subtropical	South Temperate

• Source: AntMaps

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States (type locality).

Trager (2013): Polyergus longicornis is a southeastern species, known from the Carolinas and Georgia, west to Mississippi. It is found in the open pinelands and oak-pine woodlands on sandy soils with host populations of F. dolosa.

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Distribution based on AntMaps

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.

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.

Biology

This species is known to enslave Formica dolosa (Goodloe & Sanwald, 1985; MacGown & Brown, 2006; King & Trager, 2007; Trager, 2013; de la Mora et al., 2021; slave-maker misidentified as Polyergus lucidus in some publications).

Castes

Worker

• The following images are provided by AntWeb
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Nomenclature

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

• longicornis. Polyergus lucidus subsp. longicornis Smith, M.R. 1947g: 155 (w.) U.S.A. Raised to species: Trager, 2013: 525.

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

Type Material

• Syntype, workers, Florence, South Carolina, United States, 34°44′0″N 79°46′0″W, USNM #57661, National Museum of Natural History.

Description

Worker

Trager (2013) - (N=18) HL 1.60–1.80 (1.71), HW 1.52–1.72 (1.62), SL 1.67–1.89 (1.77), ½ VeM 13–22 (17.78), ½ PnM 0–9 (3.78), WL 2.52–2.88 (2.73), GL 2.08–2.68 (2.34), HFL 2.22–2.56 (240), CI 91–99 (95), SI 101–117 (109), HFI 139–158 (149), FSI 130–144 (136), LI 4.16–4.68 (4.44), TL 6.44–7.32 (6.78).

Head truncate-obovate to narrowly subhexagonal, generally more strongly tapering behind than in front of the eyes, HL > HW; with conspicuous and abundant vertex pilosity of 20–40 erect macrosetae; scapes at least equaling to notably longer than head, always surpassing vertex corners, gradually thickening apically, not notably clavate; pronotum with (3) 6–12 (18) erect macrosetae; mesonotal profile flat or very weakly convex for most of its length; propodeal profile evenly rounded, its dorsal and posterior faces indistinct; petiole a little narrower than propodeum, with convex sides, these convergent dorsad; petiolar dorsum convex, not emarginate; petiole in profile tapering and usually slightly recurved dorsad; first tergite very sparsely pubescent or completely lacking pubescence; first tergite pilosity sparse, usually a few on the anterior half, but these often deciduous; the macrosetae weakly flexuous.

Head matte; mesosoma matte; gaster weakly matte.

Color red with infuscation of appendages and posterior portions of tergites.

Etymology

Trager (2013) - Smith coined the name of this ant species as an adjective, from Latin “longus” + “cornus”, referring to its long scapes.

References

• Borowiec, M.L., Cover, S.P., Rabeling, C. 2021. The evolution of social parasitism in Formica ants revealed by a global phylogeny. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, e2026029118 (doi:10.1073/pnas.2026029118).
• Cantone S. 2017. Winged Ants, The Male, Dichotomous key to genera of winged male ants in the World, Behavioral ecology of mating flight (self-published).
• Carroll, T.M. 2011. The ants of Indiana (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). M.S. thesis, Purdue University.
• de la Mora, A., Sankovitz, M., Purcell, J. 2020. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as host and intruder: recent advances and future directions in the study of exploitative strategies. Myrmecological News 30: 53-71 (doi:10.25849/MYRMECOL.NEWS_030:053).
• Smith, M. R. 1947g. A study of Polyergus in the United States, based on the workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Am. Midl. Nat. 38: 150-161 (page 155, worker described)
• Trager, J.C. 2013. Global revision of the dulotic ant genus Polyergus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Formicinae, Formicini). Zootaxa 3722, 501–548.