Geographic range of Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) is a widespread and conspicuous New World ponerine ant (subfamily Ponerinae). To examine the geographic distribution of P. harpax, I compiled and mapped published and unpublished specimen records from >1600 sites. I documented the earliest known P. harpax records for 28 geographic areas (countries, West Indian islands, and US states), including four for which I found no previously published records: the islands of Guadeloupe, Margarita, and Tobago and the US state of Georgia. Pachycondyla harpax has been recorded from every country in South and Central America except Chile and Uruguay. Pachycondyla harpax is also now known from six West Indian islands: Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Margarita, Trinidad, and Tobago. The known continental range of P. harpax appears to be essentially continuous, extending from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in the south (31.8°S) to Wood County, Texas in the north (32.8°N), including the continental islands of Margarita, Tobago, and Trinidad. Isolated island populations of P. harpax on Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica may be exotic, introduced through human commerce. In the US, it is unclear why P. harpax populations are only known from Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, when there would appear to be suitable habitat for this species all along the Gulf coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.