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Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2017)

Taxon Page Images:

Eurhopalothrix procera - a worker ant delicately handles a freshly-laid egg. Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia.
Image © Alex Wild.

Overview:

The genus Eurhopalothrix occurs in the Neotropics and in the Indo-Australian-southwestern Pacific area (Brown and Kempf 1960, Longino 2013). They are members of the "cryptobiotic" fauna: small, slow ants that live in rotten wood and leaf litter. They are predators, preying on small, soft-bodied arthropods (Wilson 1956, Brown and Kempf 1960, Wilson and Brown 1985).

Workers and nests are extremely difficult to see in the field, because the workers are camouflaged and very slow moving. On disturbance they freeze, often curling into a pupal position, and remain motionless for several minutes (Wilson and Brown 1985, Hoelldobler and Wilson 1986). As a result of their cryptic nature, they were considered extremely rare until the 1960's. But increasing use of Winkler and Berlese sampling has shown Eurhopalothrix to be relatively common.

Distribution:

(based on species list records)   Genus is native to: Australasia, Indomalaya, Malagasy, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oceania bioregions.

Australasia Region: Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Central, East New Britain, East Sepik, Guadalcanal, Gulf, Madang, Makira-Ulawa, Maluku Utara, Manus, Morobe, New Caledonia, New South Wales, Northern, Northern Territory, Oceania, Papua, Papua New Guinea, Queensland, Sanma, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
Indomalaya Region: Asia, Bataan, Benguet, Borneo, Ilocos Norte, Indonesia, Laguna, Malaysia, Negeri Sembilan, Philippines, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Singapore, South-Eastern Asia, Sumatera Selatan
Malagasy Region: Comoros
Nearctic Region: Florida, North America, United States
Neotropical Region: Alajuela, Alta Verapaz, Amazonas, Americas, Aragua, Argentina, Atlántida, Bahia, Baja Verapaz, Barahona, Belize, Bocas del Toro, Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Cartago, Cayo, Central America, Chiapas, Chiriquí, Chocó, Chontales, Colombia, Colón, Comayagua, Cortés, Costa Caribe Norte, Costa Caribe Sur, Costa Rica, Cotopaxi, Cuba, Córdoba, Darién, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Granma, Guadeloupe, Guanacaste, Guatemala, Guyana, Heredia, Honduras, Huánuco, Itapúa, Jinotega, Limón, Madre de Dios, Magdalena, Matagalpa, Mexico, Minas Gerais, Misiones, Napo, Nicaragua, Oaxaca, Olancho, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Petén, Puerto Rico, Puntarenas, Putumayo, Quetzaltenango, Sacatepéquez, San José, San Marcos, San Salvador, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Santiago de Cuba, South America, Suchitepéquez, Suriname, São Paulo, Tabasco, Trinidad and Tobago, Trujillo, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, Venezuela, Veracruz, Zacapa
Oceania Region: Airai, Ba, Cakaudrove, Fiji, Lomaiviti, Melanesia, Micronesia, Micronesia, Naitasiri, Namosi, Ngeremlengui, Palau, Pohnpei, Polynesia, Ra, Rewa, Samoa, Tuamasaga

Taxonomic Treatment (provided by Plazi)

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