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Ants of Aguita Fría, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Ants of Aguita Fría, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Report by John T. Longino, Michael G. Branstetter, The University of Utah; Jorge Valenzuela, Instituto de Ecología, Xalapa, Mexico. Student participants: Mario Augillar Mendez (Guanajuato), Brianna Bartholomew (Univ. Utah), Rhea Cone (Univ. Utah), Erika Alejandra Conti González (Guanajuato), Miguel Angel García-Martínez (INECOL), Kyle Gray (UC Davis), Dennis Infante (INECOL), Anamin Saraí Lizama Ramírez (Guanajuato), Jaqueline Ochoa Vega (Guanajuato), Madai Rosas Mejía (Guanajuato), Gabriel Somarriba (Univ. Florida).
This is a list of the ants of a private reserve, Aguita Fría, 8km WSW of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, based on Project ADMAC sampling.
Project ADMAC carried out ant sampling at Aguita Fría from 22-25 June 2016. Sampling included two miniWinkler transects of 50 samples each (5 m spacing; red dots), maxiWinkler samples (yellow dots), baiting transects (20 baits each, blue dots), beating samples (2hrs, green dots), and Malaise traps (white dots).
Specimen records have been uploaded to the AntWeb database and are periodically updated. Names in the species list are linked to individual specimen records on AntWeb, from which a link can be followed to the general species page. These specimens function as site-specific vouchers, whose identities may change. The species names in the list are static text on this page. Following the specimen link to AntWeb will allow one to see if the name has changed.
There are at least 45 species.
Notable findings include:
Eurhopalothrix clypeata: This is a rare species with an oddly wide distribution. The type of the species is a specimen from Guyana. An additional specimen is from Bahia, Brazil. Two specimens were known from two locations in Veracruz. A third Veracruz specimen was found in the Aguita Fría sampling.
Fulakora orizabana and F. tropicalis: Fulakora tropicalis is currently a junior synonym of F. orizabana, but the two are distinct species. It was good to find both species at Aguitas Frias, a clear case of sympatry.
The most common Pheidole at the site is an undescribed species.
Pheidole nubicola was moderately abundant. This species was previously known from two collections, one from near Mt. Orizaba and one from Rancho Cielo in Tamaulipas.
Thief ants (small Solenopsis) were surprisingly rare. Normally these are quite abundant in cloud forest litter. In the Aguita Fría samples, there was a single worker in one of the samples.
A single specimen of a distinctive new species of Strumigenys was found. It is similar to S. probatrix.
A distinctive Temnothorax was found that is like a bicolored version of T. striatulus. Similar specimens were collected in the state of Puebla during ADMAC sampling.
Ant List
Brachymyrmex (not sorted to species)
Carebara JTL-012 (cf. intermedia)
Hypoponera (not sorted to species)
Nylanderia (not sorted to species)
Pheidole (two additional species)
Solenopsis (a single worker of a thief ant)
Strumigenys brevicornis_complex
Syscia (one species)
Tapinoma (not sorted to species)
Date of this version: 30 July 2017.
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