A review of the ant genus Adelomyrmex Emery 1897 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Central America

Abstract

The taxonomy and natural history of the ant genus Adelomyrmex Emery is reviewed for the Central American region. They are small, litter-inhabiting ants most often collected in Berlese and Winkler samples. Although the genus and its relatives have a pantropical distribution, Central American cloud forests are the only places where they are abundant and diverse. Several Adelomyrmex species are mountain-top endemics with very restricted ranges, and climate change clearly poses the threat of mountain-top extinction. The 21 Mexican and Central American species are treated in some detail and a key to the 26 mainland New World species is provided. Nine new species are described, eight from Mexico and Central America (A. anxiocalor sp. nov., A. bispeculum sp. nov., A. dentivagans sp. nov., A. marginodus sp. nov., A. metzabok sp. nov., A. nortenyo sp. nov., A. paratristani sp. nov., and A. quetzal sp. nov.) and one from the oceanic Isla del Coco in the eastern Pacific (A. coco sp. nov.). New synonymy is proposed for Adelomyrmex tristani (Menozzi, 1931) (= A. brevispinosus Fernández, 2003, syn. nov.). Copyright © 2012 · Magnolia Press.