Adelomyrmex Quetzal
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''Adelomyrmex'' is a
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of ants in the
subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
Myrmicinae Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and ...
. Species of ''Adelomyrmex'' are small, litter-inhabiting ants most often collected in
Berlese Berlese or Berlèse is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Antonio Berlese (1863–1927), Italian entomologist * Augusto Napoleone Berlese (1864–1903), Italian botanist and mycologist, brother of Antonio * Lorenzo Berlèse (1784 ...
and
Winkler Winkler may refer to: * Winkler (surname), people with the surname ''Winkler'' or ''Winckler'' * Winkler scale, also known as the heat summation scale for classifying climates * Winkler (crater), a crater on the Moon * 6473 Winkler, an asteroid * ...
samples. Although the genus and its relatives have a pantropical distribution,
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
n
cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...
s are the only places where they are abundant and diverse.


Habitat and distribution

The center of ''Adelomyrmex'' abundance and diversity is Central America, and a few far-flung species occur in
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...
,
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
,
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
,
Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
,
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, and
Isla del Coco Cocos Island ( es, Isla del Coco) is an island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 13 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Province of Puntarena ...
. Several ''Adelomyrmex'' species are mountain-top
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
s with very restricted ranges, and climate change clearly poses the threat of mountain-top extinction. The geographic range of the genus in the New World is (1) the mainland from northern
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
to Amazonian Brazil; (2) the Galápagos, where the mainland species ''A. myops'' is probably recently introduced; and (3) Isla del Coco, a small oceanic island north of the Galápagos, with a highly distinctive endemic species. The genus is unknown from the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
islands. The center of abundance and diversity is the Central American highlands south to western
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
. Elsewhere in the range the genus is always very rare with low local diversity. In Central America, ''Adelomyrmex'' occur primarily in mature wet forest habitats, in rotten wood and leaf litter on the forest floor. They are far more abundant in montane cloud forest than in lowland rainforest. In some cloud forest habitats they can occur in nearly 100% of miniWinkler samples (1 m2 samples of sifted litter) and dozens of individuals may occur in samples. In lowland rainforest they are rare, occurring in fewer than 10% of miniWinklers, and usually as one or two individuals per sample. Highland species are typically larger as well. Thus in some cloud forests ''Adelomyrmex'' make up a large proportion of the ant biomass (often sharing that role with another dominant cloud forest myrmicine genus, ''
Stenamma ''Stenamma'' is a genus of cryptic leaf-litter ants that occurs in mesic forest habitats throughout the Holarctic region, Central America, and part of northwestern South America (Colombia and Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; ...
''). In contrast, in lowland habitats they are very rare and a minute proportion of the biomass. In South America they are always rare, whether in lowlands or cloud forest.


Nests

Given their abundance in cloud forest Winkler samples, remarkably few nests have been observed. Small nests of ''A. tristani'' and ''A. paratristani'' are occasionally found in bits of rotten wood on the ground. The dark workers curl and lie motionless on disturbance, blending with the background debris. Only the white brood gives them away. An exception is some montane sites in
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
and
Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
where ''A. robustus'' occurs. ''Adelomyrmex robustus'' can be a more conspicuous presence, with large colonies in rotten wood at forest edges. ''Adelomyrmex bispeculum'', a species endemic to Monteverde,
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, is only known from three nest collections. These nests were in small chambers in clay soil, one beneath a stone and two in a vertical trailside bank. It is revealing that this species has not been collected in the hundreds of sifted litter samples taken in the Monteverde area, in which ''A. tristani'' is very abundant. It suggests fine-scale microsite segregation of ''Adelomyrmex'' species.


Biology

Foragers are almost never seen. ''Adelomyrmex'' workers generally have small eyes and presumably forage almost entirely beneath the litter. In baiting transects in cloud forest, ''Adelomyrmex'' are occasionally encountered, but not in numbers that reflect their abundance in sifted litter samples. Nothing is known of their feeding habits. The reproductive biology of ''Adelomyrmex'' is mysterious. In Winkler samples, ''Adelomyrmex'' workers are routinely accompanied by wingless
queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
and intercaste individuals. The queens are about the same size as workers but with ocelli, large compound eyes, and the typical enlarged
mesosoma The mesosoma is the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings. In hymenopterans of t ...
of myrmicine queens. The typical sclerites of winged queens and apparent wing scars are present. One queen of ''A. silvestrii'' from a Winkler sample has a shred of membranous wing, as though it were irregularly torn or chewed off. Intercaste individuals show variable intermediacy between workers and queens, with variable presence of a single median ocellus, compound eyes of intermediate size, and an enlarged promesonotum. In spite of the relative commonness of these putative reproductives, males and winged queens are rare in Central America. None have appeared in hundreds of Winkler samples, and none have appeared in Malaise samples from the same sites where ''Adelomyrmex'' are abundant in the litter. The only known winged reproductives in the genus are the single report of males and alate queens of ''A. vaderi'', a species from
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
.


Species

*'' Adelomyrmex anxiocalor'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex betoi'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex biroi'' Emery, 1897 *'' Adelomyrmex bispeculum'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex brenesi'' Longino, 2006 *''
Adelomyrmex coco ''Adelomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Species of ''Adelomyrmex'' are small, litter-inhabiting ants most often collected in Berlese and Winkler samples. Although the genus and its relatives have a pantropical distributio ...
'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex costatus'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex cristiani'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex dentivagans'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex foveolatus'' Fernández, 2003 *''
Adelomyrmex grandis ''Adelomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Species of ''Adelomyrmex'' are small, litter-inhabiting ants most often collected in Berlese and Winkler samples. Although the genus and its relatives have a pantropical distributio ...
'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex hirsutus'' Mann, 1921 *'' Adelomyrmex laevigatus'' Mackay, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex longinoi'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex mackayi'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex marginodus'' Longino, 2012 *''
Adelomyrmex metzabok ''Adelomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Species of ''Adelomyrmex'' are small, litter-inhabiting ants most often collected in Berlese and Winkler samples. Although the genus and its relatives have a pantropical distributio ...
'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex micans'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex microps'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex minimus'' Fernández & Mackay, 2003 *''
Adelomyrmex myops ''Adelomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Species of ''Adelomyrmex'' are small, litter-inhabiting ants most often collected in Berlese and Winkler samples. Although the genus and its relatives have a pantropical distributio ...
'' (Wheeler, 1910) *'' Adelomyrmex nortenyo'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex paratristani'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex quetzal'' Longino, 2012 *'' Adelomyrmex robustus'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex samoanus'' Wilson & Taylor, 1967 *''
Adelomyrmex silvestrii ''Adelomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Species of ''Adelomyrmex'' are small, litter-inhabiting ants most often collected in Berlese trap, Berlese and Winkler extraction, Winkler samples. Although the genus and its relativ ...
'' (Menozzi, 1931) *'' Adelomyrmex striatus'' Fernández, 2003 *'' Adelomyrmex tristani'' (Menozzi, 1931) *'' Adelomyrmex vaderi'' Fernández, 2003


References

* *


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1951555 Myrmicinae Ant genera