Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel)
publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.1093/isd/ixab025 |
persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0394878E-FFF3-FFDE-B831-FA79BAEFFB72 |
treatment provided by |
Felipe |
scientific name |
Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel) |
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Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel) View in CoL
Figs. 6 and 21
Pseudomyrma championi Forel 1899: 96 . Syntype worker, Amula, 6000 ft., Guerrero, Mexico (H. H. Smith) (BMNH) [examined].
Pseudomyrma leonhardi Stitz 1937: 132 . Two syntype workers, Guerrero, Mexico (L. Schultze) (ZMHB) [examined]. Synonymy by Kempf 1961: 391.
Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel) View in CoL ; Wheeler and Wheeler 1956: 382. Combination in Pseudomyrmex View in CoL .
Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel) View in CoL ; Kempf 1961: 391-393 (in part).
Other material examined ( AMNH, CASC, CUIC, CZUG, EMEC, IEXA, JTLC, KWJC, LACM, MCZC, MHNG, MNHN, MSNG, MZSP, OSAC, PSWC, SEMC, UCDC, UCRC, USNM).
Mexico: Chihuahua: 6.5 km NW Batopilas , 1,550 m (Ward, P. S.) ; Mpio. Ocampo, 16 k E Basaseachic (Mackay, W.; Mackay, E.);
Ciudad de México: Cd. de México, Jardín Botánico UNAM, 2,344 m (Dubovikoff) ; Colima: 16 km NNE Comala , 1,280 m (Ward, P. S.) ; Guanajuato: 5 mi S Salvatierra (Schlinger, E. I.) ; Guanajuato [as ‘Guanaxuato’] (Dugès, E.) ; Guerrero: Xucumanatlan , 2,135 m (Smith, H. H.) ; Hidalgo: 11 mi W Jct. 45 & 85, 1,980 m (Scullen; Bolinger) ; 8 mi NE Jacala (Fisher, E. M.) ; 8 mi SW Jacala , 1,645 m (Snelling, R. R.) ; Jalisco: [no specific locality] (Krauss, N. L. H.); 1 km S El Fresnito (Rifkind, J.) ; 10 km S Autlán , 1,600 m (Ward, P. S.) ; 4 mi W Mazamitla , 2,070 m (Smith, R. F.) ; 7 mi S Manzamitla (Leech, H. B.) ; Guadalajara (c.u.) ; Lagos de Moreno, Sta. Rosa , 1,900 m (Vásquez, M.) ; Mascota , El Atajo, km. 15 camino a San Sebastian del O., 1,200 m (Vásquez, M.) ; Mixtlán, Cerro Chato, Carr. Ameca-Mascota , km. 48, 1,780 m (Vásquez, M.) ; Mun. Autlán de Navarro, SSE Autlán , 1,435 m (MacDougal, J.) ; San Ignacio, Cerro Gordo , 2,200 m (Navarrete, J. L.) ; Tepatitlán, carretera a Arandas , 1,950 m (Vásquez, M.) ; Tequila, Volcán de Tequila , 1,435 m (Pérez, D.) ; Zapopan , Santa Lucia , 1,642 m (Vásquez, M.) ; México: Valle de Bravo (Parker, F. D.) ; Michoacán: 12.3 mi E Morelia , 2,165 m (Snelling, R. R.) ; 15–20 mi W Jiquilpan (Leech, H. B.) ; 3 mi E Carapan (Parker, F. D.; Stange, L. A.) ; 8 km E Quiroga , 2,285 m (Evans, H. E.) ; Cotija (Villegas, B.) ; Morelia (Krauss, N. L. H.) ; Pátzcuaro [as ‘Patzquero’] (Lipovsky, L. J.) ; Morelos: Chamilpa , 1,850 m (Quiroz, L.) ; Cuernavaca (Krauss, N. L. H.) ; Cuernavaca (Lipovsky, L. J.) ; Sto. Domingo , 1,900 m (Quiroz, L.) ; Tepotzlán (Olson, D. M.) ; Tlacotepec, Mpio. Zacualpan (Alemán, G.) ; Tlalnepantla , 2,030 m (Alemán, G.) ; Tres Marias [as ‘Tres Maria’] (Pereira, P.) ; Zacualpan , 1,730 m (Alemán, G.) ; Oaxaca: 12 mi SE Oaxaca , 1,630 m (Scullen; Bolinger) ; 5 mi SE Oaxaca , 1,875 m (Scullen; Bolinger) ; 9 mi SE Nochistlan (Janzen, D. H.) ; Monte Alban (Malkin, B.) ; Monte Alban (Vaurie, P.; Vaurie, C.) ; Oaxaca (Malkin, B.) ; Puebla: Cacaloapan (Parker, F. D.) ; km. 275, Hwy. 150, NE of Chapulco (Cornell Univ. Mexico Field Party) ; Tehuacán (Janzen, D. H.) ; Sinaloa: 1.6 km NNE El Palmito , 2,130 m (Ward, P. S.) ; 6 mi NE Potrerillos (Parker, F. D.; Stange, L. A.) ; Potrerillos (Schlinger, E.) ; Sonora: La Quintera (Timberlake) ; Santa Barbara , near Alamos , 1,450 m (Franklin, K. A.) ; Veracruz: Acultzingo nr. Orizaba (Janzen, D. H.) ; Huatusco (Quiroz, L.) .
Worker measurements (n = 13). HW 0.82–1.05, HL 1.02–1.28, MFC 0.033 –0.069, LHT 0.71–0.91, CI 0.80–0.87, FCI 0.040 –0.071, REL 0.38–0.44, REL2 0.46–0.55, FI 0.39–0.44, PLI 0.49–0.57, PWI 0.46–0.54, MSC 4–8.
Worker Diagnosis. Small to medium-sized species ( HW 0.82–1.05) with moderately elongate head ( CI 0.80–0.87) (Fig. 6) and relatively short eyes (see REL and REL2 values); frontal carinae separated by about basal scape width or less; metanotal groove present but weakly impressed; in profile, dorsal face of propodeum generally flat and more or less differentiated from declivitous face, rounding into the latter, and the two faces subequal in length; petiole moderately slender ( PLI 0.49–0.57, PL/HL 0.52–0.56); in profile petiole with slight or no anterior peduncle, the anterodorsal face flat to convex, ascending gradually to summit in posterior half of node, then rounding into more steeply descending posterior face; profemur slender; hind leg relatively short ( LHT /HL 0.69–0.75). Head opaque to subopaque, densely punctulate-coriarious, the punctulae on vertex usually separated by less than their diameters (but separated by more than their diameters in some populations, and the vertex correspondingly shinier). Standing pilosity sparse, absent from propodeum and mesonotum ( MSC 4–8). Gaster, metacoxa, metafemur and metatibia dark brown, contrasting with light orangebrown mesosoma; head, first and second pairs of legs, petiole, and postpetiole varying from dark brown (usually) to much lighter and concolorous with mesosoma.
Comments. The worker of this species is characterized by having a light-colored (orange-brown) mesosoma and contrasting dark gaster and hind leg. The head, other legs, petiole, and postpetiole also tend to be strongly infuscated, but in some samples (from Colima, Jalisco, and Chihuahua) they are lighter colored and even concolorous with the mesosoma. Workers of the closely related P. apache are uniformly orange-brown in color; see further discussion under that species. Pseudomyrmex championi has been confused with dark brown workers of a more distantly related species, P. cognatus , which occurs from southern Mexico to Nicaragua. The supposed descriptions of the larva ( Wheeler and Bailey 1920, Wheeler and Wheeler 1956) and queen ( Kempf 1961) of P. championi actually refer to P. cognatus . Workers of the two taxa can be distinguished as follows: P. championi is conspicuously bicolored, the dark gaster contrasting with the light orange-brown mesosoma, whereas P. cognatus is more uniformly dark brownish-black, with the mesosoma at most moderately lighter (and often dark on top); the metanotal groove is better developed (but still slight) in P. championi compared to P. cognatus ; and the eye is generally shorter in P. championi than P. cognatus ( REL 0.38–0.44 vs 0.43–0.48). The geographical distributions of P. championi and P. cognatus do not overlap ( Figs. 21 and 22 View Fig ) but because they belong to different species complexes in the P. elongatulus group (Fig. 1), they cannot be treated as allopatric variants of the same species.Their similarities must reflect convergence or shared ancestral features.
Distribution and Biology. Pseudomyrmex championi occurs in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre del Sur, and the intervening Transmexican Volcanic Belt ( Fig. 21 View Fig ). Collection labels with habitat and/or elevation information document the occurrence of this species in oak woodland, oak-pine forest, old field/pasture, mixed tropical/temperate mesic forest, mid-montane dry forest, and yucca desert, at elevations ranging from 1,200 m to 2,344 m (mean 1,828 m; n = 28). Four nests of P. championi encountered by one of us (P.S.W.) were all from dead twigs of woody shrubs (one Asteraceae , one Verbenaceae , and two unidentified plants).
AMNH |
American Museum of Natural History |
CUIC |
Cornell University Insect Collection |
CZUG |
Universidad de Guadalajara,Centro de Estudios en Zoologia, Entomologia |
EMEC |
Essig Museum of Entomology |
LACM |
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |
MHNG |
Museum d'Histoire Naturelle |
MNHN |
Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle |
MSNG |
Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova 'Giacomo Doria' |
MZSP |
Sao Paulo, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo |
OSAC |
Oregon State Arthropod Collection |
SEMC |
University of Kansas - Biodiversity Institute |
UCDC |
R. M. Bohart Museum of Entomology |
UCRC |
University of California, Riverside |
USNM |
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History |
UNAM |
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico |
CI |
Carnegie Institution of Washington |
LHT |
Lahti City Museum |
MSC |
Michigan State University |
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
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Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel)
Ward, Philip S. & Branstetter, Michael G. 2022 |
Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel)
Kempf, W. W. 1961: 391 |
Pseudomyrmex championi (Forel)
Wheeler, G. C. & J. Wheeler 1956: 382 |
Pseudomyrma leonhardi
Kempf, W. W. 1961: 391 |
Stitz, H. 1937: 132 |
Pseudomyrma championi
Forel, A. 1899: 96 |