Nesomyrmex konina, Arredondo & Guerrero, 2025

Arredondo, Brandon S. & Guerrero, Roberto J., 2025, The ant genus Nesomyrmex Wheeler (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) from the threatened Colombian tropical dry forest: three new species, a new synonymy, and new distributional data, ZooKeys 1232, pp. 131-172 : 131-172

Nesomyrmex konina sp. nov.

Figs 23 , 29

Type material.

Holotype. Colombia • 1 worker; Arauca, Tame, Parcela del Humboldt ; 6.359289°N, 71.894258°W; 675 m a. s. l.; 19 Mar. 2024 – 21 Mar. 2024; H. Sierra, S. de La Hoz legs.; Winkler; CBUMAG:ENT:35951 [ CBUMAG] . Paratypes (n = 4). Colombia • 3 workers; same data as holotype; CBUMAG:ENT:40035 , CBUMAG:ENT:40036 , CBUMAG:ENT:41654 ( CBUMAG) . • 1 worker; Cundinamarca, Medina, Vda. Periquito ; 4.512722°N, 73.426833°W; 1043 m a. s. l.; 07–21 Feb. 2019; MPUJ_ENT 0064660 ( MPUJ) .

Holotype worker measurements.

HL 0.66. HW 0.57, SL 0.44, ML 0.26, EL 0.16, PW 0.4, PTW 0.19, PPW 0.25, WL 0.76, PH 0.24, PTL 0.23, PTH 0.2, PPL 0.21, PPH 0.21, GL 0.66. CI 86, SI 77.

Paratype worker measurements.

(n = 3). HL 0.66–0.67, HW 0.57–0.58, SL 0.44–0.46, ML 0.25–0.28, EL 0.15–016, PW 0.39–0.4, PTW 0.17–0.19, PPW 0.24 – 0.25, WL 0.75–0.77, PH 0.21–0.26, PTL 0.21–0.24, PTH 0.19–0.2, PPL 0.18–0.21, PPH 0.20–0.21, GL 0.66–0.69. CI 86, SI 77–79.

Geographic range.

Colombia.

Diagnosis.

Dorsal surface of head and clypeus smooth and shiny. Clypeus without longitudinal median carina. Mesosome with slightly impressed longitudinal striation. Dorsal surface of mesosoma, petiole and postpetiole opaques. Legs and antennal scapes smooth and shiny. Basal third of first gastral tergum smooth and shiny.

Description.

Worker. In full-face view, head slightly longer than wide (CI 86), slightly narrow anterior to the eyes, posterolateral corners rounded, occipital margin weakly convex to straight; mandible triangular, inner mandibular margin with five teeth; anterior margin of clypeus weakly convex, projecting over mandibles; lateral eyes, with 10 ommatidia at greatest diameter, Posterior margin barely reaching midline of head length; frontal lobes straight, slightly expanded laterally, antennal insertions slightly exposed; front carina extending to anterior margin of eye; antenna of 11 antennomeres; scapes relatively short (SI 77), not extending past occipital margin, curved from base to mid-length; pedicel longer than wide, and nearly as long as next two antennomeres together; antennal club of three antennomeres.

Mesosoma. In lateral view, mesosomal profile convex; in dorsal view, pronotum broader than long, greater width medially, anterior margin of pronotum slightly convex, humeral angle slightly angulated; in lateral view, promesonotal suture present, absent dorsally; lateral mesonotal projection rounded; lateral dorsopropodeal processes long, covering propodeal spiracle in dorsal; propodeal spines sharped divergent, as long as half the distance between their apices; in lateral view, propodeal spines forming an acute angle; propodeal spiracle small, circular, projecting posterodorsally; propodeal lobe short and uniformly rounded.

Metasoma. In dorsal view, petiole subrectangular, anterior and posterior margins of petiole of equal width, lateral margins forming a rhombus, with their sides meeting towards the middle of their length; anterior and posterior margin of node with two tubercles of equal length located laterally; lateral margin of petiole node with a posterolateral tubercle; in lateral view, petiole trapezoidal, peduncle and petiole node without apparent differentiation, forming a continuous line, which extends to the dorsal face of the petiole node; anterior face of petiole with anteromedial petiolar spine on each side, above the petiole spiracle; dorsal face weakly rounded and short; anteroventral process of petiole developed, triangular in shape; in dorsal view, postpetiole hexagonal, twice as wide as long, with two lateral tubercles towards its middle length; in lateral view, postpetiole globose, taller than long.

Sculpture. Dorsal surface of head mostly smooth and shiny, with reticulated area restricted to anterior area of eyes, continuing into frontal lobes and malar area; dorsal surface of mandibles partly smooth and shiny, with slight striation restricted to inner margin; clypeus smooth and shiny; scapes smooth and shiny; dorsum of mesosoma rugose-reticulate; lateral surface of mesosoma finely reticulate; petiole and postpetiole dull and rough-reticulate; gaster smooth and shiny.

Pilosity and color. Dorsal surface of body, except head, with erect flattened hairs mostly separated by a distance equal to or greater than its length; hairs as long as base of propodeal spines; in full-face view, head capsule with simple, erect to suberect hairs; erect hairs restricted to vertex area; scapes covered with short decumbent hairs; propodeal spines with sparse erect hairs; legs with simple, appressed hairs, sparse and restricted to apex of femur; gaster with abundant erect hairs, separated by a distance equal to its length. Body yellowish brown, except for dark brown masticatory margin of mandible and antennomeres posterior to pedicel, varying from pale yellow to dark brown on antennal club.

Natural history.

Several of the type workers were extracted from the leaf litter in a fragment of tropical dry forest that has been recovering for more than 20 years in eastern Colombia.

Queen and male.

Unknown.

Etymology.

The word konina means smooth and shiny in the Sikuani aboriginal language, the language of the indigenous population that has shared the habitat where this species lives. The word is used to refer to the smooth and shiny sculpture of the cephalic dorsum of the ants of this species. This is a name in apposition and thus invariable.

Comments.

Nesomyrmex konina is included in the group of echinatinodis species due to its morphological similarity (see comments in N. echinatinodis ). It is distinguished from the other species in the group by its coloration and the smooth, shiny sculpture of the first gastral tergite.

Figures

Figure 23. Nesomyrmex konina sp. nov. Holotype worker (CBUMAG: ENT: 35951) A full-face view B lateral view C dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A); 0.5 mm (B, C).

Figure 29. Distributional map of Nesomyrmex species from the tropical dry forest in Colombia.