Nylanderia luceata, Williams & Williams & Lapolla & Lucky, 2025

Williams, Jason L., Williams, John F., Lapolla, John S. & Lucky, Andrea, 2025, Nylanderia of the World, Part IV: Taxonomic contributions to the American Clade I of New World Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Zootaxa 5569 (3), pp. 549-593 : 576-578

Nylanderia luceata , sp. nov.

Figs. 44–46 (worker); Figs. 47–48 (queen)

Holotype worker, HONDURAS: Cortés, PN Cusuco , 15.48572 -88.23746 ±60m, elev. 1210m, 31.v.2010, mesophyll forest, sifted litter, LLAMA#Wm-C-06-2-04 ( USNM: USNMENT01131824 ). 5 paratype workers and 1 paratype queen with same locality data as holotype ( USNM: USNMENT01131241 , USNMENT01131816 , USNMENT01131817 , USNMENT01131867 ; MNCR: USNMENT01131821 , USNMENT01131822 ).

Worker diagnosis: Antennae relatively short, with scapes surpassing posterior margin by less than a quarter of their length; light to medium reddish-brown and with meso- and metacoxae lighter than mesosoma; microsculpture and blue iridescence subtle, most visible on head; moderate cephalic pubescence.

Compare with: N. contraria , N. lazulina

WORKER. Measurements (n=8): TL: 1.71–2.24; EL: 0.09–0.11; EW: 0.08–0.09; IOD: 0.31–0.34; HE: 0.00– 0.02; HL: 0.53–0.61; HW: 0.45–0.51; HLA: 0.18–0.21; HLP: 0.25–0.29; SL: 0.56–0.62; PW: 0.31–0.37; MW: 0.17–0.20; PrW: 0.24–0.28; PDH: 0.18–0.23; PTW: 0.11–0.13; LHT: 0.50–0.55; WL: 0.62–0.72; GL: 0.55–0.96; SMC: 9–13; PMC: 2–4; MMC: 2–3. Indices: BLI: 131–146; CI: 83–87; EPI: 71–78; HTI: 106–112; REL: 17–19; SI: 119–129.

Color: light to medium reddish-brown with antennae, mandibles, leg joints, and tarsi yellow to yellow-brown in contrast to body; meso-and metacoxae yellow to whitish and lighter than mesosoma; overall cuticle lightly microsculptured, resulting in subtle blue iridescence on head, mesosoma, and gaster. Pilosity: erect macrosetae on all parts of body thick, long, and dark; moderate cephalic pubescence, found laterally and concentrated around compound eyes; pubescence sparse to absent between compound eyes; mesosoma pubescence sparse to absent, limited at most to scattered hairs on pronotum and propodeum, and a fringe of hairs concentrated just posterior to the metanotal groove; gaster pubescence sparse to absent; pair of small, erect setae on apex of petiole. Head: longer than broad and quadrate with distinct posterolateral corners and flattened posterior margin, with slight to moderate medial emargination; scapes surpass posterior margin of head by less than a quarter of their length; compound eyes relatively small (REL:<19); median ocellus small, but often apparent; lateral ocelli absent or not apparent. Mesosoma: posterior margin of pronotum forming obtuse angle with anterior margin of mesonotum in profile view; propodeum low and evenly rounded, with posterior face about same length as dorsal face.

QUEEN. Measurements (n=1): TL: 3.98; EL: 0.23; HL: 0.77; HW: 0.72; SL: 0.91; WL: 1.41; GL: 1.80. Indices: BLI: 183; CI: 94; REL: 30; SI: 126.

Relatively large. Color: uniformly medium reddish-brown. Pilosity: most body covered in moderate to dense pubescence; lacking pubescence on posterior face of propodeum; 1-2 small, erect setae on anepisternum.

Other material examined: GUATEMALA: San Marcos, Bojonal Road , 14.94786 -91.8837 ± 50m, elev. 1618m, 4.vi.2015, cloud forest, leaf litter, R.S. Anderson #RSA2015-105; MEXICO: Chiapas, 5km NE Coapilla , 17.17602 -93.13293 ± 300m, elev. 1990m, 25.v.2008, mesophil forest, leaf litter, LLAMA#Wm-A-04-1.

Etymology: The species epithet is derived from ‘ luceo ’ (L. = to shine).

Notes: Nylanderia luceata workers, like those of N. lazulina and N. contraria , have whitish meso- and metacoxae that strongly contrast with the color of the mesosoma. However, the body of N. luceata is lighter in overall color, its cuticle is much less microsculptured, and its blue iridescence is much more subtle than both of those species.. Unlike N. contraria , both this species and N. lazulina have only moderate cephalic pubescence, existing mostly as patches around the compound eyes and absent to sparse medially ( Fig. 4B ). Though subtle, the compound eyes of N. luceata are often slightly smaller than those of all other species in examined in this study. Nylanderia luceata is found in high elevation forests ranging from Chiapas in southern Mexico to the western edge of Honduras ( Fig. 2B ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distributions of species: (A) N. austroccidua in the United States and northern Mexico, (B) species found across southern Mexico and Mesoamerica, and (C) N. docilis in South America. Maps were created using GPS coordinates listed in Table S1 and from the Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics (GABI; Guénard et al. 2017) database.

FIGURE 4. Line drawings depicting examples of cephalic pubescence patterns in full-face view: (A) N. austroccidua with uniformly dense cephalic pubescence; (B) N. lazulina with moderate pubescence, concentrated primarily in areas anterior and posterior to the compound eyes; and (C) N. cf. docilis with sparse cephalic pubescence.

FIGURES 44–46. Nylanderia luceata holotype worker (USNMENT01131824). Lateral, full-face, and dorsal view of the body.

FIGURES 47–48. Nylanderia luceata paratype queen (USNMENT01131867). Full-face and lateral view of the body.