Strumigenys alberti Forel 1893

Booher, Douglas B., 2021, The ant genus Strumigenys Smith, 1860 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in western North America North of Mexico, Zootaxa 5061 (2), pp. 201-248 : 218

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 (unpublished data).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]