Pachycondyla verenae (Forel) Wild, A. L., 2005

Wild, A. L., 2005, Taxonomic revision of the Pachycondyla apicalis species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)., Zootaxa 834, pp. 1-25 : 10-13

Pachycondyla verenae (Forel) NEW STATUS

(Figs. 5, 6, 9)

Neoponera apicalis var. verenae Forel 1922: 90.

Pachycondyla apicalis ; Emery 1890: 58-59. Not Latreille (1802). Misidentification.

Neoponera apicalis ; Wheeler and Wheeler 1952. Not Latreille (1802). Misidentification, description of larva.

Neoponera obscuricornis ; Brown 1957: 230; Kempf 1972: 162 (part). Not Emery (1890). Misidentification.

Pachycondyla obscuricornis ; Duelli and Duelli-Klein 1976: 411. Not Emery (1890). Misidentification; first explicit combination of the name obscuricornis in Pachycondyla .

Pachycondyla obscuricornis ; Hölldobler 1986: 89-99; Hölldobler and Wilson (1990): 266, 273, 280, 281, 292; Traniello and Hölldobler 1991: 783-794; Oliveira and Hölldobler 1991: 215; Lommelen et al 2002: 61-68; Wild 2003: 12; Longino 2004. Not Emery (1890). Misidentification.

Pachycondyla verenae (Forel 1922); Brown, in Bolton 1995: 311. (listed incorrectly as j. syn. of P. apicalis ; synonymy by Brown [1957]). First explicit combination in Pachycondyla , the first implicit combination was by Brown (1973).

Type data: Neoponera apicalis var. verenae Forel . Panama. (s. loc.) [2w SYNTYPES, MHNG, examined].

Other material examined:

Bolivia. Santa Cruz: 10k NW Terevinto [ PSWC] ; 35k SSE Flor de Oro [ PSWC] ; Las Gamas, P. N. Noel Kempf Mercado [ PSWC] . Brazil. Amazonas: Faz. Esteio, 80k NNE Manaus [ PSWC] ; Igarape Maua, S of Manaus [ MCZC] ; Km 34 Manaus to Itacoatiara Hwy [ MCZC] . Bahia: CEPEC/CEPLEC, Rodovia Ilheus /Itabuna [ ALWC] . Goiás: Faz. Acerio Jatai [ MCZC] ; Mun. Anapolis , Km. 46 on road to Goiana [ MCZC] . Pará: Belém [ LACM] ; Mosqueiro [ LACM] ; Pirelli Plantation (Iraboca) nr. Belem [ MCZC] . Rondônia: Rio Madeira, Madeira Mamore R. R. Co. Camp #39 [ MCZC] ; Rio Madeira, Madeira Mamore R. R. Co. Camp #41 [ MCZC] . São Paulo: Agudos [ MCZC] ; Cachoeira das Emas (EEBP), Piracununga [ MCZC] ; Faz. Campininha, Est. Ecol. Mogi Guacu [ PSWC] ; Rio Claro [ ALWC] . Colombia. Cauca: Isla Gorgona [ MCZC] ; nr. Yanaconas [ MCZC] . Chocó: 10 km SW S. Jose de Palmar, Rio Torito, Finca Los Guaduales [ MCZC] . Magdalena: 2-3 K above Minca [ MCZC] ; 2k ESE Minca [ PSWC] ; 4k N San Pedro [ PSWC] . Meta: Transecto Sumapaz [ PSWC] . Valle: km 98, old road Cali to Buenaventura [ MCZC] . Costa Rica. Cartago: 8 km ESE Moravia [ LACM] ; Turrialba [ LACM, MCZC] . Heredia: La Selva Biol. Sta. [ LACM, PSWC] ; Heredia (s. loc.) [ LACM] . Limón: 10 km ESE Moravia [ LACM] ; R. Toro Amarillo, vic. Guapiles [ MCZC] ; Zent [ LACM, MCZC] . Puntarenas: Corcovado Nat. Park, Llorona [ LACM, MCZC, PSWC] ; Ojo de Agua [ LACM] ; Res. Biol. Carara [ LACM, PSWC] . Ecuador. Napo: Jatun Sacha 7k ESE Pto. Misahualli [ PSWC] . Pichincha: 1 mi. W Santo Domingo de los Colorados [ MCZC] ; ENDESA Forest Reserve [ ALWC] . “Durena” (loc. indet.) [ LACM] . French Guiana. Cayenne: 35 km W Sinnamary [ LACM] . Guyana. Cuyuni-Mazaruni: Bartica Dist. [ MCZC] ; Camaria [ MCZC] ; Cuyani R. [ MCZC] ; Kamakusa [ MCZC] . Demerara-Mahaica: Dunoon [ MCZC] . Honduras. Atlántida: 14 km S La Ceiba [ MCZC] ; Lancetilla, nr. Tela [ MCZC] . Colón: Sangrelaya [ LACM] . Olancho: El Boqueron [ MCZC] . Mexico. Guerrero: (s.loc.) [ MCZC] . Veracruz: Laguna Encantada [ MCZC] ; Las Hamacas, 17k N Santiago, nr. Tuxtla [ MCZC] ; Presidio, Trail above Presidio [ LACM] ; Pueblo Nuevo nr. Tezonapa [ MCZC] . Nicaragua. Granada: Granada [ LACM] . Rivas: Pica Pica [ LACM] . Atlántico Sur: Masilena nr. Bluefields [ MCZC] . Paraguay. Amambay: Parque Nacional Cerro Cora [ ALWC, INBP] . Caaguazú: Pastoreo [ MZSP] . Canindeyú: Col. 11 de Setiembre [ ALWC] ; Res. Nat. Bosque Mbaracayu , Lagunita [ ALWC, MCZC] ; Res. Nat. Bosque Mbaracayu , Aguara Nu [ ALWC] . Misiones: Ayolas [ INBP] . Paraguarí: Parque Nacional Ybycui [ ALWC] . Panama. Chiriquí: Bugaba [ MCZC] . Coclé: El Cope [ LACM] . Colón: Gamboa, C. Z. [ LACM] . Panamá: Barro Colorado I. [ LACM, MCZC, UCDC] . Peru. Junin: (s. loc.) [ MCZC] . Huánuco: 43 mi. E Tingo Maria [ MCZC] ; 5 mi. S. Las Palmas [ LACM] . Madre de Dios: 15 k NE Puerto Maldonado [ MCZC] ; Est. Biol. Cocha Cashu [ LACM] ; Rio Tambopata, 10 km S Puerto Maldonado [ LACM] . Venezuela. Bolívar: 49k ENE Tumeremo [ PSWC] ; Rio Grande, Imataca For. Res. [ PSWC] ; Guarico P. N. Guatapo Hae. Elvira [ MCZC] .

Worker measurements: (n = 23) HL 2.16-2.51, HW 1.60-1.87, SL 2.36-2.77, WL 3.41-4.05, FL 2.26-2.66, LHT 2.63-3.17, PL 0.87-1.13, PH 1.12-1.33, CI 0.70-.79, SI 1.32-1.59.

Worker diagnosis: A smaller species (WL <4.1 mm) with a long antennal scape and a short, posterolaterally emarginate petiole. Head narrow (CI <.79); mandibles elongatetriangular and bearing 12-14 teeth. Antennal scape longer than head length. Posterior and lateral faces of propodeum distinct and meeting at a sharp angle which is sometimes produced into a small ridge. Posterior and lateral faces of petiole distinct, meeting at a relatively sharp margination. Petiolar node relatively short (PH <1.35 mm). Abdominal tergite 3 lacking erect setae, tergite 4 occasionally with 1-2 erect setae along posterior margin. Hypopygium coarsely punctate posteriorly, with shining interspaces in area adjacent to sting, bearing moderate to sparse subdecumbent pubescence that does not completely obscure integument (as in Fig. 7). Body and appendages dark brown to black; apical antennomeres and tarsomeres medium reddish-brown to dark brown.

This species may be separated from P. apicalis and P. obscuricornis by the marginate form of the petiole.

Geographic variation: Specimens from the southern parts of the range have shorter antennal scapes (SL <2.5mm) and broader heads (CI>.76), although they never approach the condition of P. obscuricornis . Additionally, specimens from Paraguay and southern Brazil show a less marked development of the posterolateral emargination of the petiolar node than specimens from elsewhere in the range.

Distribution: Southern Mexico to Paraguay.

Biology: Almost all the information published about P. verenae appears in the literature under the name P. obscuricornis (see Discussion).

This common species exhibits great flexibility in habitat. 14 specimen records are from rainforest or other types of wet forest, seven are from forest edge habitats, five from open natural habitats such as campo cerrado or savannah, one from pasture, one from tropical scrub forest, and one from a cacao plantation. Interestingly, southern populations seem to be more commonly collected in open habitats, while northern populations are more likely to be found in forest. This species displays similar nesting habits to P. apicalis and P. obscuricornis . Three nest records from specimen collection data were from rotting wood, and one from a grass clump in a pasture. Traniello and Hölldobler ’s (1984) study colony was collected nesting in a log in Panama, and Wild (2003) reports a nest in rotting wood in Paraguay.

Pachycondyla verenae is a predaceous and scavenging species. Foragers will also carry droplets of liquid held between their mandibles, a common trait in poneromorph ants ( Hölldobler 1986). Longino (2004) has observed P. verenae attacking live lepidopteran larvae in Costa Rica, and captive colonies have taken crickets, cockroaches, termites, and other insect parts (Traniello & Hölldobler 1984, Oliveira & Hölldobler 1991, Gobin et al 2003). Foragers use visual cues (Duelli & Duelli-Klein 1976), and there is no recruitment to food sources (Traniello & Hölldobler 1984).

Colonies are small, reportedly with fewer than 100 workers. Gobin et al (2003) collected 27 colonies from La Selva in Costa Rica with a median number of 39 workers per colony. The study colony of Fresneau (1984) contained 57 workers, and that of Traniello and Hölldobler (1984) grew to about 80-90 workers. P. verenae appears to be polygynous. Traniello and Hölldobler ’s study colony had “several” fertile queens, and Fresneau (1984) found developed ovaries in five of seven dealate queens. Oliveira & Hölldobler (1991) described the agonistic interactions between workers and unmated queens in a queenless laboratory colony. These dominance interactions have a measurable energetic cost to the colony (Gobin et al 2003).

Pachycondyla verenae has been the subject of considerable research on gland structure. Abdominal glands in the male were described by Hölldobler and Engel-Siegel (1982), the pygidial gland by Traniello and Hölldobler (1984), the metapleural gland was briefly investigated by Hölldobler and Engel-Siegel (1985), and the ultrastructure of the labial gland was reported by Lommelen et al (2002, 2003).

Tandem-running, a stereotyped behavior where an ant recruits a single nestmate at a time, was investigated in P. verenae by Traniello and Hölldobler (1984). P. verenae was found to employ tandem-running during nest relocation, mediated by a pheromone originating in the pygidial gland of the lead ant and spread to the hind-legs by a self-grooming behavior.

There is one record in MCZC of P. verenae in the gut contents of Bufo coniferus Cope in Nicaragua.