Geographic Distribution of Strumigenys epinotalis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Strumigenys epinotalis (former Pyramica epinotalis) is a tiny arboreal ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) first found in Costa Rica in 1924. The earliest known US specimens were collected in Florida and Louisiana in 2009. I compiled 33 site records of S. epinotalis from nine countries: Brazil (4 sites), Colombia (1), Costa rica (3), Ecuador (1), Mexico (9), Nicaragua (1), Panama (1), Paraguay (1), and the US (12). the US sites come from four states: Alabama (1), Florida (6), Louisiana (4), and Mississippi (1). Strumigenys epinotalis has been recorded from widely scattered Neotropical sites in ranging from Paraguay (24.1°S) to central Mexico (20.1°N). records of S. epinotalis in Louisiana and Florida are from considerably higher latitudes (27.2–30.6°N). the US populations may be non-native, or they could be at the northern end of the ant's native range. Most S. epinotalis records apparently come from relatively intact forests, often in swampy areas, and all known nests have been found up in trees, either inside epiphytes or in cavities within trees. I have sampled ants at hundreds of sites in South and Central Florida through vegetation beating and I have only found this species twice. Given the extreme scarcity of S. epinotalis records across its enormous known range, it seems possible that native populations of S. epinotalis occur all along the Gulf coast of Mexico and the US, but have been overlooked.