Strumigenys silvestrii

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Strumigenys silvestrii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Tribe: Attini
Genus: Strumigenys
Species group: silvestrii
Species: S. silvestrii
Binomial name
Strumigenys silvestrii
Emery, 1906

Strumigenys silvestrii casent0005677 profile 1.jpg

Strumigenys silvestrii casent0005677 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Synonyms

A South American species that has spread to other areas of the Neotropics. Strumigenys silvestrii likely has similar food habits as the three highly successful Old World tramp dacetine ants, Strumigenys membranifera, Strumigenys emmae, and Strumigenys rogeri, preying on tiny soil arthropods, such as Collembola (Wetterer, 2011, 2012a, b). The ecological importance of these dacetine invaders, however, remains largely unstudied.

Strumigenys silvestrii is a native to tropical and subtropical South America and has been introduced to the USA, Mexico, and Portugal (MacGown et al. 2012; Guénard et al. 2017). Although ranging across all southeastern Atlantic Gulf states, it is not commonly collected across its USA range. This species inhabits drier more open habitats than most Nearctic species and is often picked up in pitfall traps or flight traps in areas with little leaf litter accumulation. Fewer collectors have recorded this species occurring in heavily forested habitats. Both males and queens have been collected for this species, with mating flights in Texas between late May and mid-July (estimated from alate collections). The earliest record from Texas is 1969 and from California is 1996 (MacGown et al. 2012) (Booher, 2021).

At a Glance • Invasive  

Identification

Bolton (2000) - A member of the Strumigenys silvestrii-group. Within the silvestrii-group 6 species have pilosity on the first gastral tergite that is not predominantly or entirely of fine elongate or flagellate hairs. In these 6 the pilosity of the first gastral tergite is of spatulate, remiform or simple stiff hairs. One such species, Strumigenys ascita, has two narrowly spiniform preapical teeth on each mandible, as opposed to one tooth and a minute denticle in the remainder. Three species of Central American origin (Strumigenys calamita, Strumigenys perdita, Strumigenys nastata) retain spongiform tissue on the ventral surface of the petiole and have two pairs of short erect hairs on the cephalic dorsum. In the last two species, Strumigenys epelys and silvestrii, the petiole lacks spongiform tissue ventrally and the cephalic dorsum bears only a single pair of short erect hairs. Of these two species epelys lacks the projecting hairs on the head and alitrunk that are listed above for silvestrii. Finally, silvestrii is the only species of the 6 to have its distal preapical tooth set very close to the apicodorsal tooth.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Apparently from South America and subsequently spread to the southern US and the West Indies. Strumigenys silvestrii has recently been found for the first time in the Old World, from the island of Madeira, mainland Portugal, and Macau. (MacGown et al. 2012)

Argentina to Guyana; introduced in USA, Mexico, most Caribbean Islands and Portugal; in eastern USA from Florida to North Carolina and west to Louisiana; in western USA occurs in California and Texas (Booher, 2021).

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 1.570555556° to -34.608418°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Nearctic Region: United States.
Neotropical Region: Argentina (type locality), Bahamas, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Greater Antilles, Grenada, Paraguay.
Palaearctic Region: China, Iberian Peninsula, Portugal.

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.
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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.
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MacGown sylvestrii map.jpg

Biology

Not much is known about the biology of this species. In general, (for species in this genus) Template:Strumigenys

Regional Notes

Florida (USA)

Deyrup et al. (2000) - A rare but widely distributed species, known from a few sites from the keys north to Gadsden County. Found in leaf litter in woods. Members of this genus feed on small organisms, especially Collembola. First published Florida record: Johnson 1986; earlier specimens: 1984.

Castes

MacGown et al 2012 sylvestrii Page 04 Image 0001.jpg
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Worker

Images from AntWeb

Strumigenys silvestrii casent0178128 head 1.jpgStrumigenys silvestrii casent0178128 profile 1.jpgStrumigenys silvestrii casent0178128 dorsal 1.jpgStrumigenys silvestrii casent0178128 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0178128. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ALWC, Alex L. Wild Collection.
Strumigenys silvestrii casent0104531 head 1.jpgStrumigenys silvestrii casent0104531 profile 1.jpgStrumigenys silvestrii casent0104531 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0104531. 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.

  • silvestrii. Strumigenys silvestrii Emery, 1906c: 168, fig. 27 (w.q.) ARGENTINA. Senior synonym of caribbea: Brown, 1959f: 25. See also: Bolton, 2000: 559.
  • caribbea. Strumigenys (Strumigenys) caribbea Weber, 1934a: 43, fig. 12 (w.q.) CUBA. Junior synonym of silvestrii: Brown, 1959f: 25.

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

Description

Worker

Bolton (2000) - TL 1.6 - 2.0, HL 0.42 - 0.49, HW 0.33 - 0.37, CI 76 - 80, ML 0.22 - 0.26, MI 50 - 57, SL 0.24 - 0.31, SI 76 - 86, PW 0.21 - 0.25, AL 0.38 - 0.48 (6 measured). Apical fork of mandible usually with a minute intercalary denticle, may be very difficult to see; absent in some. Mandible with preapical tooth located very close to apicodorsal tooth; the two almost adjacent and the length of the preapical tooth greater than the distance between it and the apicodorsal. A minute denticle also present on inner margin of mandible, often difficult to see, located close to midlength. Ground-pilosity of head and leading edge of scape fine and slender, narrowly spatulate. Specialised projecting hairs on head and alitrunk stiff, feebly remiform or somewhat flattened apically: in apicoscrobal position; a short pair on cephalic dorsum close to occipital margin; at pronotal humerus; a pair on mesonotum. All hairs on first gastral tergite narrowly remiform and elevated, inclined toward midline in dorsal view, in profile appearing curved or inclined posteriorly. Petiole node in dorsal view slightly broader than long; ventral surface of petiole without spongiform tissue and lateral spongiform lobe vestigial to absent, at most nothing more than a slight expansion at apex of the posterior collar. Disc of postpetiole mostly or entirely smooth, at most with some faint superficial vestiges of sculpture.

Type Material

Bolton (2000):

Syntype workers and queen, ARGENTINA: Santa Catalina, Buenos Aires (F. Silvestri) (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna) [examined].

Strumigenys (Strumigenys) caribbea Weber, 1934a: 43, fig. 12. Syntype workers and queens, CUBA: Soledad, Cienfuegos, 15.viii.1933 (queens) (N.A. Weber); Soledad, Cienfuegos, 4.xi.1927 (workers) (W.S. Creighton) (National Museum of Natural History , Museum of Comparative Zoology, The Natural History Museum) [examined].

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Bolton, B. 2000. The Ant Tribe Dacetini. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65
  • Brown W. L., Jr. 1959. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: group of silvestrii Emery. Studia Entomologica. (n.s.)2: 25-30.
  • Cuezzo F. 1999. Nuevas citas de hormigas de las tribus Dacetini y Basicerotini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para la República Argentina. Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argent. 58(3/4): 209-210.
  • Favretto M. A., E. Bortolon dos Santos, and C. J. Geuster. 2013. Entomofauna from West of Santa Catarina State, South of Brazil. EntomoBrasilis 6 (1): 42-63.
  • Fleck M. D., E. Bisognin Cantarelli, and F. Granzotto. 2015. Register of new species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Rio Grande do Sul state. Ciencia Florestal, Santa Maria 25(2): 491-499.
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • MacGown J. A., J. K. Wetterer, and J. G. Hill. 2012. Geographic spread of Strumigenys silvestrii (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dacetini). Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews DOI 10.1163/18749836-05031051
  • Medeiros Macedo L. P., E. B. Filho, amd J. H. C. Delabie. 2011. Epigean ant communities in Atlantic Forest remnants of São Paulo: a comparative study using the guild concept. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 55(1): 75–78.
  • Rosa da Silva R. 1999. Formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) do oeste de Santa Catarina: historico das coletas e lista atualizada das especies do Estado de Santa Catarina. Biotemas 12(2): 75-100.
  • Siqueira de Castro F., A. B. Gontijo, W. Duarte da Rocha, and S. Pontes Ribeiro. 2011. As comunidades de formigas de serapilheira nas florestas semidecíduas do Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, Minas Gerais. MG.BIOTA, Belo Horizonte 3(5): 5-24.
  • Vittar, F. 2008. Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de la Mesopotamia Argentina. INSUGEO Miscelania 17(2):447-466
  • Vittar, F., and F. Cuezzo. "Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de la provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina." Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina (versión On-line ISSN 1851-7471) 67, no. 1-2 (2008).
  • Wild, A. L. "A catalogue of the ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)." Zootaxa 1622 (2007): 1-55.
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