Eur. J. Entomol. 115: 268-295, 2018 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2018.027

Ants of the genus Protalaridris (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), more than just deadly mandiblesOriginal article

John E. LATTKE1, Thibaut DELSINNE2, Gary D. ALPERT3, Roberto J. GUERRERO4
1 Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Caixa Postal 19020, CEP 81531-980, Curitiba, PR, Brazil; e-mail: piquihuye@gmail.com
2 Société d'Histoire Naturelle Alcide-d'Orbigny, 57 rue de Gergovie, 63170 Aubière, France; e-mail: tdelsinne@shnao.eu
3 Museum of Northern Arizona, 3100 North Fort Valley Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA; e-mail: garydalpert@gmail.com
4 Grupo Insectos Neotropicales, Programa de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad del Magdalena, Carrera 32, N° 22-08, Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia; e-mail: rguerrero@unimagdalena.edu.co

The ants of the genus Protalaridris are revised based upon their morphology. Seven species are recognized; the type species (P. armata Brown, 1980) and six species described as new: P. aculeata Lattke & Alpert, sp. n., P. arhuaca Guerrero, Lattke & Alpert, sp. n., P. bordoni Lattke, sp. n., P. leponcei Delsinne & Lattke, sp. n., P. loxanensis Lattke, sp. n., and P. punctata Lattke, sp. n. The genus is patchily distributed in mesic forested areas from western Panama to northern Venezuela and along the Andes to the Amazon watershed of southwestern Peru. The generic description is modified to accommodate a short-mandibulate species. Sporadic biological observations of one long-mandibulate species suggest they are sit-and-wait ambush predators that open their jaws to approximately 180° when stalking. All species are described and imaged, an identification key and a distribution map is provided. Comparing the mandibular morphology of long-mandibulate Protalaridris with other extant and extinct ants bearing elongate, dorsoanterior arching mandibles suggests the supposed mandibular apex in these taxa is actually a hypertrophied, preapical tooth and their supposed basal mandibular tooth is the main mandibular shaft.

Keywords: Formicidae, Attini, Protalaridris, taxonomy, morphology, mandible, distribution, predation, Haidomyrmecini

Received: September 4, 2017; Revised: April 23, 2018; Accepted: April 23, 2018; Published online: June 19, 2018  Show citation

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LATTKE, J.E., DELSINNE, T., ALPERT, G.D., & GUERRERO, R.J. (2018). Ants of the genus Protalaridris (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), more than just deadly mandibles. EJE, 115, Article 268-295. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2018.027
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