Nylanderia microps (Smith, M.R., 1937)

Kallal, Robert J., 2019, Nylanderia of the World Part III: Nylanderia in the West Indies, Zootaxa 4658 (3), pp. 401-451 : 425-426

Nylanderia microps (Smith, M.R., 1937)

Figs. 52–54 (worker)

Prenolepis (Nylanderia) microps Smith M.R., 1937: 868 (worker). Syntype worker, PUERTO RICO: 14 kilometers east of Mayagüez (M.R.S.) (NMNH) (examined). Combination in Nylanderia: Kempf, 1972: 167 ; in Paratrechina: Brandão, 1991: 367 ; in Nylanderia: LaPolla, Brady & Shattuck, 2010: 127 .

Worker diagnosis: Very small eyes ( EL less than 0.1 mm); orange-yellow; entire body with abundant macrosetae ( SMC: 38–47; PMC: 24–27) giving species a prickly appearance.

Compare with: N. myops , N. zaminyops .

WORKER. Measurements (n=5): TL: 2.40–3.20; HW: 0.55–0.73; HL: 0.67–0.81; EL: 0.05–0.08; SL: 0.77– 0.93; WL: 0.78–1.00; GL: 0.90–1.50. SMC: 38–47; PMC: 24–27; MMC: 5–10. Indices: CI: 82–89; REL: 7–10; SI: 128–139; SI2: 6–9.

Head: sides of head in full face view nearly parallel; posterolateral corners rounded; posterior margin straight, slightly emarginate medially; anterior clypeal margin evenly rounded; ocelli absent; eye small. Mesosoma: in lateral view, pronotum convex; anterior margin of mesonotum raised slightly above posterior pronotal margin; metanotal area with a short flat area before spiracle; dorsal face of propodeum slightly convex; dorsal face of propodeum lower than mesonotum in lateral view. Color and pilosity: body orange-yellow; legs and gaster sometimes slightly lighter, especially ventrally on gaster; scape and legs with abundant pubescence, pubescence sparse to absent across remainder of body; macrosetae distinctly abundant across entire body, with dark setal bases, giving specimens prickly appearance; anterior portion of propodeal dorsal face with fringe of nearly appressed, very short macrosetae (more or less in a line across dorsal face, pointing toward head).

Other material examined: PUERTO RICO: El Verde Field Station , forest in vicinity of field station, N 18 19.295’, W 065 49.190’, elev. 985 ft., 21 July 2008, J.S. LaPolla .

Notes: Along with N. myops and N. zaminyops , N. microps is another West Indian species with reduced eye size ( EL less than 0.1 mm). While all species are light in coloration, N. myops and N. zaminyops are much paler and do not possess nearly as many macrosetae on the scapes and mesosomal dorsum. Among West Indian Nylanderia , N. microps is unusually setose. The presence of very short, nearly appressed macrosetae along the anterior portion of the propodeal dorsal face is unusual as well. A similar character state has been observed in Nylanderia mixta ( Forel, 1897) , a species endemic to the Seychelles in the southwest Indian Ocean (LaPolla and Fisher, in prep). It seems reasonable to assume this species is nocturnal given its small eyes and light coloration. One of us ( JSL) collected several colonies of N. microps around El Verde Field Station, and workers were never observed foraging during the day. Colonies were interestingly found in trees, usually about 1–2 meters off the ground. They were found to nest in rotten pieces of wood and under bark where soil and leaves had accumulated in a groove or flat part of a tree branch. Hundreds of workers were found in the colonies, but unfortunately males were never collected. Interestingly, this species occurs in sympatry with Zatania cisipa in the El Yunque National Forest, which also nests in trees and is nocturnal ( LaPolla et al. 2012). A molecular phylogeny of Nylanderia placed this species as sister species to the other Puerto Rican species described here, N. semitincta ( Gotzek et al. 2012) .

Figures

FIGURES 52–54. Nylanderia microps worker USNMENT00754813. Lateral, full-face, and dorsal view of the body.