Data Paper |
Corresponding author: James Wetterer ( wetterer@fau.edu ) Academic editor: Wojciech Pulawski
© 2015 James Wetterer, Gordon C. Snelling.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Wetterer J, Snelling G (2015) Geographic distribution of Labidus coecus (Latr.) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), a subterranean army ant. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 44: 31-38. https://doi.org/10.3897/JHR.44.4672
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Labidus coecus (Latreille) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) is a New World subterranean army ant with an extensive geographic range. We compiled and mapped >650 site records for L. coecus, documenting the earliest known report for 27 geographic areas (countries, US states, and major West Indian islands), including three for which there are no previously published records: Margarita, Tobago, and Trinidad. With the new records, L. coecus has now been reported from 20 countries in Central and South America (all except Chile), three West Indian islands (Margarita, Trinidad, and Tobago), and four US states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas). The range of L. coecus appears to be essentially continuous, from Buenos Aires, Argentina in the south (~34.6°S) to Delaware County, Oklahoma in the north (~36.6°N). The three West Indian islands with L. coecus populations are all continental shelf islands that were connected to South America during periods of lower sea levels a few thousand years ago, so L. coecus populations on these islands have only recently become isolated. Labidus coecus commonly nests in caves, a microhabitat that may allow it to live in regions with otherwise inhospitable climates. Although recent papers listed L. coecus as an exotic species in North America, we found no evidence that L. coecus is exotic to any part of its known range.
Biogeography, Ecitoninae , exotic species, geographic range, native range
Labidus coecus (Latreille) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) is a widespread New World subterranean army ant.
Using published and unpublished records, we documented the known range of L. coecus. We obtained unpublished site records from museum specimens in the collections of Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM); the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), and the Smithsonian Institution (SI). We obtained unpublished site records of L. coecus from C. Sanabria (Colombia), A.J. Pérez-Sánchez (Margarita), and E. Mendoza (El Salvador). In addition, we used on-line databases with collection information on specimens by the Field Museum, Antweb (www.antweb.org), and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (www.gbif.org). JKW collected L. coecus in Tobago and El Salvador.
We obtained geo-coordinates for collection sites from published references, specimen labels, maps, or geography web sites (e.g., earth.google.com, www.tageo.com, and www.fallingrain.com). Published records usually included collection dates. In a number of cases, publications did not include the collection dates for specimens, but we were able to determine the approximate date based on information on the collector’s travel dates. For example,
We compiled and mapped >650 site records (Fig.
Earliest known records for Labidus coecus. + = no previously published records. FM = Field Museum; UWI = University of the West Indies (Trinidad); MCZ = Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Earliest record | |
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French Guiana | ≤1791 ( |
Central America | ≤1802 ( |
Surinam | ≤1807 ( |
Brazil | 1830 ( |
Guyana | ≤1840 ( |
Texas | ≤1852 ( |
Colombia | ≤1859 ( |
Guatemala | 1878–1883 ( |
Mexico | ≤1885 ( |
Costa Rica | 1889 ( |
Venezuela | ≤1890 ( |
Belize | 1870-1890 ( |
Paraguay | ≤1894 ( |
Nicaragua | ≤1899 ( |
Panama | ≤1899 ( |
Argentina | 1898–1900 ( |
Ecuador | ≤1901 ( |
Bolivia | 1911 ( |
Honduras | 1920 ( |
+Trinidad | 1924 (AE Emerson, FM): Blue Basin |
Louisiana | ≤1947 ( |
Oklahoma | ≤1947 ( |
Peru | ≤1955 ( |
El Salvador | ≤1957 ( |
Arkansas | ≤1965 ( |
+Tobago | 1993 (SK Starr, UWI): Charlotteville |
Uruguay | ≤2004 ( |
+Margarita | 2008 (AJ Pérez-Sánchez, pers. comm.): Cerro Macanao |
In the US, the vast majority of L. coecus records came from Texas.
We found no published site records for L. coecus in Oklahoma.
We found no specific site records for L. coecus in Uruguay.
Antbase coded one L. coecus record as from Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, but the specimen was actually from Espiritu Santo, Brazil. Antbase previously listed a record of L. coecus from New Mexico, but this turned out to be a misidentification (C. Moreau, pers. comm.).
Labidus coecus has now been reported from 27 geographic areas, including 20 countries in Central and South America (all except Chile), three West Indian islands (Margarita, Tobago, and Trinidad), and four US states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas). The range of L. coecus appears to be essentially continuous, from Buenos Aires, Argentina (~34.6°S;
We thank M. Wetterer for comments on this manuscript; S. Cover and J. Longino for ant identification; S. Cover (MCZ) and T. Schultz (SI) for help with their respective ant collections; C. Moreau for correcting a misidentification found on antweb; C. Sanabria, A.J. Pérez-Sánchez, and E. Mendoza for an unpublished site record; W. O’Brien for GIS help; D.P. Wojcik and S.D. Porter for compiling their valuable FORMIS bibliography; R. Pasos and W. Howerton of the FAU library for processing so many interlibrary loans; Florida Atlantic University and the National Science Foundation (DES-0515648) for financial support.