Species: Pseudomyrmex seminole

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2017)

Pseudomyrmex seminole Ward, 1985b PDF: 237, figs. 18, 21, 28, 44, 45 (w.q.m.) U.S.A. Nearctic. AntCat AntWiki HOL

Taxonomic history

Wheeler & Wheeler, 1991b PDF: 90 (l.).

Distribution:

Nearctic Region: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North America, Puebla, Sonora, Texas, United States
Neotropical Region: Americas, Belize, Caribbean, Cayo, Central America, Chiapas, Cuba, Mexico, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Villa Clara

Distribution Notes:

This species is occurs along the Gulf Coast of the United States, as well as in Mexico and Cuba.

Biology:

Nests of P. seminole have been collected in dead stalks or culms of Andropogon, Heterotheca subaxillaris, Uniola paniculata, and an unidentified woody legume (Ward, 1985). None of these nests was polygynous; some were queenless, indicating that this species is polydomous. On Padre Island. east Texas P. seminole is patchily distributed in a continuous population of P. pallidus. Both species use the same nest sites (Heterotheca stalks and Uniola culms). Ward (1985) observed incipient P. seminole colonies consisting of (i) a single, dealate queen, (ii) a single, dealate queen with brood, and (twice) (iii) a single dealate queen in association with P. pallidus workers. In one of the latter instances a dealate P. pallidus queen and five workers occupied one Uniola internode, while the P. seminole queen occupied an adjacent cavity; in the second instance, the P. seminole queen coexisted with seven P. pallidus workers (but no queen) plus brood of unknown identity, in a single dead Heterotheca stalk. These observations suggest that P. seminole may be a facultative, temporary social parasite of P. pallidus. Alates or alate pupae have been collected in most months of the year. indicating a rather continual production of sexuals.

Identification:

Worker:

standing pilosity sparse, absent from mesonotum and propodeum
anterior clypeal margin laterally angulate, and with a weak median tooth
relatively large species (HW 0.87-0.96)
frontal carinae relatively well-separated (MFC 0.029-0.042, FCI 0.031-0.047)
eyes relatively short (REL 0.43-0.48)

Taxonomic Notes:

P. seminole occurs sympatrically with the closely related P. pallidus. Workers of P. seminole may be recognized by the less convergent frontal carinae (MFC > 0.028 in P. seminole, <0.025 in P. pallidus), shorter eye, and weakly angulate median portion of the anterior cIypeal margin. On average, the petiole and postpetiole of P. seminole are longer and more slender than those of P. pallidus, but there is sufficient variation in both species that the relevant metrics overlap broadly. Differences between the queens of the two species are more pronounced and the male genitalia of P. seminole are quite distinct (see Ward, 1985).

References:

Ward, P. S. 1985. The Nearctic species of the genus Pseudomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae 21: 209-246.

Specimen Habitat Summary

Found most commonly in these habitats: 15 times found in sand dunes, 2 times found in roadside near mangrove, 1 times found in swamp forest, 2 times found in open, grassy ground, 2 times found in road edge in mesophyl forest, 1 times found in roadside nr. mangrove, 1 times found in coastal dune remant, 1 times found in dense thorn scrub, 1 times found in marsh edge, 1 times found in palmetto prairie, ...

Found most commonly in these microhabitats: 11 times ex Uniola culm, 2 times dead Andropogon culm, 3 times ex dead twig, 2 times ex Heterotheca stem, 2 times ex grass stem, 1 times ex dead Uniola culm, 1 times on east side of Choctwhatchee River, 2 times in dead herb stem, 0 times ex Eupatorum stem, 1 times ex dead stalk of Panicum, 1 times ex dead grass culm, ...

Collected most commonly using these methods: 3 times search, 2 times Nest in saw grass blade, 1 times Nest in sickle pod stalk, 1 times ex. dead weed stem.

Elevations: collected from 3 - 2103 meters, 153 meters average

Type specimens: paratype: casent0760130, casent0760131, casent0760132, casent0760133, casent0760134, casent0760135, casent0760136, casent0760137, casent0760138; paratype of Pseudomyrmex seminole: casent0902898