Strumigenys alberti Forel 1893

Distribution. Mexico to Brazil and most Caribbean islands; one USA record from Nevada.

Comments. This is a common species with a large range in the Neotropics. A single specimen is known from the USA, collected by Emma Mackay. This specimen was collected in a natural area, underneath a small rock in a dry and rocky juniper shrubland in Spring Valley State Park in Lincoln Co., Nevada. This new record is well north of the previous range limit of the species (38° N vs. 23° N; Guénard et al. 2017; Janicki et al. 2016). The occurrence may be an introduction or a rarely collected native with a much larger range than previously known. According to W. Mackay, he immediately recognized it as a Strumigenys sp. and knowing no other collections of Strumigenys in Nevada, he and Emma Mackay spent quite a bit of time searching for additional specimens without luck. Other ants W. Mackay collected as part of the same collecting event were Tapinoma sessile (Say, 1836), Formica moki Wheeler, 1906, Camponotus sansabeanus (Buckley, 1866), Camponotus vicinus Mayr, 1870, Dorymyrmex sp., Temnothorax sp., Solenopsis sp., and Forelius sp. (unpublished data).

Material examined: USA, Nevada, Lincoln Co., 0.70 km NE Panaca, 38.053031, - 114.17002 ±1000 m, 1783 m ±15, 24-May-13, found in a shrubland under small stone, dry rocky sandy loam, 1w, coll. W&E Mackay, MacKay#25374, (casent0799751)[CWEM]