Temnothorax salvini (Forel, 1899)

Prebus, Matthew M., 2021, Taxonomic revision of the Temnothorax salvini clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with a key to the clades of New World Temnothorax, PeerJ (e 11514) 9, pp. 1-462 : 358

salvini group overview

With ten species (eight described as new here), the salvini group is the second largest in the salvini clade. Up until a recent species delimitation study ( Prebus, 2021), this group was thought to contain two species, T. aztecus and T. salvini , but upon including specimens from across its considerable geographic range and morphological variability, this group was found to contain an additional seven species. Following publication of this study, an additional species was discovered that had been overlooked in collections ( T. terraztecus sp. nov.). The members of the salvini group inhabit all elevations throughout their range in southern Mexico and Central America ( Fig. 153 ), but individual species appear to have an affinity for nearly discrete elevational ranges when their geographic ranges overlap with other members of the salvini group. Prebus, 2021 illuminated some of the biogeographic history of the salvini group as well: it was inferred to have arisen in the northern part of its current range in habitats associated with contemporary mid-to-high elevations in the Miocene, approximately 13 Ma. Subsequently, the salvini group expanded into the southern Central American Cordilleras at the Miocene-Pliocene transition, coinciding with mountain building in that region 8–5 Ma, where today it is represented by T. salvini and T. longicaulis stat. nov., nom. nov. Additionally, the salvini group expanded into low elevation habitats during the same transition period, with the widespread T. aztecus being the only member of the group inhabiting these habitats today. The nesting habits of the species of the salvini group, where they are known, are almost exclusively arboreal, nesting in vines, under epiphytes, or in dead vegetation suspended in the canopy. The one exception may be T. terraztecus sp. nov., which has only been collected from leaf litter extractions from a couple of localities. While the species within the salvini group can be difficult to tease apart morphologically, as a group they are quite distinctive, with long, tapering setae on all surfaces of the body, flat to slightly sinuate mesosomata in profile, and strongly sculptured head and mesosomata.

Figures

Figure 153 Geographical and elevational distribution of the salvini group. (A) Temnothorax aztecoides sp. nov. (B) T. aztecus (C) T. fortispinosus sp. nov. (D) T. longicaulis stat. nov., nom. nov. (E) T. longinoi sp. nov. (F) T. paraztecus sp. nov. (G) T. parvidentatus sp. nov. (H) T. quetzal sp. nov. (I) T. salvini (J) T. terraztecus sp. nov. Colored scale to the left of each map represents elevation in meters. Points in black represent the species named in each subfigure, while points in red represent other members of the species group. Type localities are represented by triangles; if present, types of synonyms are named; non-type localities are represented by circles. Bounding box in inset map shows location of main map. Full-size DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11514/fig-153