Temnothorax pulchellus (Emery, 1894)

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 : 258

pulchellus group overview

With fifteen species (nine described as new here), the pulchellus group is the largest in the salvini clade. Primarily inhabiting the low elevations of the Caribbean islands and southern Florida, this group has a peculiar bimodal elevational distribution, inhabiting some of the highest points on the island of Hispaniola, but as of yet without any records of mid-elevation collections ( Fig. 133 ). Nest collections of this group, while rare, suggest nesting habits similar to the pastinifer group, i.e., within dead wood and vegetation on or near the ground, often in leaf litter. The general habitus of the members of the pulchellus group is another example of the Macromischa syndrome, with most species having extremely arched mesosomata, often with enlarged femora, and always with broad postpetioles. These characters broadly overlap with the pastinifer group, Temnothorax subditivus , and some members of the sallei clade (e.g., the sallei and iris subclades sensu Prebus (2017)). Use the keys above and the ‘similar species’ sections below to find specific distinguishing characters.

Figures

Figure 133 Geographical and elevational distribution of the pulchellus group. (A) Temnothorax agavicola sp. nov. (B) T. albispinus. (C) T. bahoruco sp. nov. (D) T. balaclava sp. nov. (E) T. ciferrii (F) T. flavidulus (G) T. harlequina sp. nov. (H) T. hippolytus sp. nov. (I) T. laticrus sp. nov. (J) T. magnabulla sp. nov. (K) T. pulchellus (L) T. terricola (M) T. torrei (N) T. wettereri sp. nov. (O) T. wilsoni 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-133