Species: Odontomachus ruginodis

Current Valid Name:

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2023)

Odontomachus haematodes var. ruginodis Wheeler, 1908a PDF: 126 (w.) Note: haematodes is a misspelling of Odontomachus haematodus. [sic] BAHAMAS (New Providence I., Hog I.). Neotropic. Primary type information: Type-material: syntype workers (number not stated). Type-localities: Bahamas: New Providence I., Nassau (Queen’s Staircase and Fort Charlotte), and Hog I., v.-vi.1904 (W.M. Wheeler), and Cuba: Havana (C.F. Baker). Type-depositories: AMNH, MCZC. AntCat AntWiki HOL

Taxonomic history

[First available use of Odontomachus haematodus insularis ruginodis Wheeler, 1905; unavailable (infrasubspecific) name.]

Deyrup et al., 1985 PDF: 192 (m.)

As unavailable (infrasubspecific) name: Emery, 1911e PDF: 115; Forel, 1912d PDF: 28 (in text); Wheeler, 1913b PDF: 483; Wheeler, 1913e PDF: 240; Wheeler, 1917g PDF: 458; Mann, 1920b PDF: 404; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 171.

Subspecies of Odontomachus haematodus: Forel, 1912d PDF: 28; Smith, 1937 PDF: 828.

Junior synonym of Odontomachus brunneus: Brown, 1976c PDF: 103

Status as species: Wilson, 1964b PDF: 4; Deyrup et al., 1985 PDF: 192; Deyrup & Trager, 1986 PDF: 214; Deyrup et al., 1989 PDF: 94; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 363; Bolton, 1995b: 297; Deyrup et al., 2000: 295; Deyrup, 2003 PDF: 45; Deyrup & Cover, 2004b PDF: 141 (in key); Wetterer & Wetterer, 2004 PDF: 215; MacGown & Forster, 2005 PDF: 67; Rodriguez, 2008 PDF: 168; Branstetter & Sáenz, 2012 PDF: 262; MacGown et al., 2014 PDF: 543 (redescription); Bezděčková et al., 2015 PDF: 124; Wetterer et al., 2016 PDF: 14; Deyrup, 2017: 30; Fernández & Guerrero, 2019 PDF: 539; Lubertazzi, 2019 10.3099/MCZ-43.1 PDF: 139; Wetterer, 2021 10.13102/sociobiology.v68i2.6725 PDF: 3.

// Distribution

Distribution:

  Geographic regions (According to curated Geolocale/Taxon lists):
    Americas: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Galapagos Islands, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, United States
    Oceania: New Caledonia
  Biogeographic regions (According to curated Bioregion/Taxon lists):
    Australasia, Nearctic, Neotropical
  Native to (according to species list records):
    Australasia, Neotropical bioregions

Distribution Notes:

West Indies, USA (Florida), Costa Rica. Costa Rica: coastal lowlands of the Atlantic coast and Osa Peninsula; La Selva; Hitoy Cerere (100m).

Biology:

Natural History:

O. ruginodis is known to occupy coastal areas in South Florida (Deyrup et al. 1985). I have made the following collections of ruginodis in Costa Rica:

Heredia: La Selva: Collected under epiphyte mat in treefall. Tree down, long-since leafless, but trunk and branches still above surrounding veg., scattered moss/epiphyte clumps still intact.

Limon: Hitoy Cerere: Primary wet forest. Nesting in rotten log.

Limon: 25km NW Cahuita: Coconut strand along beach edge.

Puntarenas: Corcovado, San Pedrillo: foragers on ground at beach edge.

Puntarenas: Corcovado, Sirena: clearing near beach. A colony was in a bed of closely-packed plant cuttings. There were wide, flat-bottomed chambers 2cm below the soil surface in a plastic bag full of potting soil. There was a short cone built on the surface of the soil. Cavities between the bases of adjacent bags contained pupae and tending adults.

Puntarenas: Corcovado, Llorona: collecting on one of the rock islands offshore, separated from land even at low tide, vegetated on top.

References:

Brown, W. L., Jr. 1976. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. Part VI. Ponerinae, tribe Ponerini, subtribe Odontomachiti. Section A. Introduction, subtribal characters. Genus Odontomachus. Studia Entomol. 19:67-171.

Deyrup, M., J. Trager, N. Carlin 1985. The genus Odontomachus in the southeastern United States (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Entomological News 96:188-195.

Smith, M. R. 1937(1936). The ants of Puerto Rico. Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico 20:819-875.

Wheeler, W. M. 1905. The ants of the Bahamas, with a list of the known West Indian species. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 21:79-135.

Specimen Habitat Summary

Found most commonly in these habitats: 9 times found in wet forest canopy, 5 times found in old cacao plantation, 7 times found in tropical rainforest, 7 times found in urban, 5 times found in rainforest, 6 times found in Flatwoods, 5 times found in garden, 2 times found in 2º tropical rainforest, 5 times found in beach, 1 times found in coffee finca, ...

Found most commonly in these microhabitats: 11 times at bait, 8 times ex sifted leaf litter, 6 times under stone, 5 times ground forager, 2 times base of small tree, 1 times mercury vapor lamp, 3 times ex sifted litter, 4 times epiphytic material, Pentaclethra macroloba, 3 times leaf litter, 3 times copa de árbol, 3 times Malaise trap, ...

Collected most commonly using these methods: 11 times hand collecting, 13 times search, 11 times Baiting, 12 times Berlese, 9 times Winkler, 12 times hand collection, 12 times Fogging, 5 times blacklight, 4 times Malaise, 2 times MiniWinkler, 2 times MaxiWinkler, ...

Elevations: collected from 1 - 1790 meters, 184 meters average

Collect Date Range: collected between 1965-08-27 00:00:00.0 and 2019-06-25 00:00:00.0

Type specimens:

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Species: Odontomachus ruginodis Wheeler, 1908

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