A revision of the Neotropical Solenopsidini ant genus Oxyepoecus Santschi, 1926 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). 1. The Vezenyii species-group

Abstract

ABSTRACT

An assessment of leaf-litter and epigaeic ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) living in different landscapes of the Atlantic Forest Biome in the State of Bahia, Brazil

“…All of them are cryptobiotic ants, seldom collected (Hölldobler & Wilson 1958;Wilson 1958;Mackay 1996;Fernández 2003;Albuquerque & Brandão 2004;Feitosa et al 2007;Feitosa et al 2008;Delsinne et al 2012;Baccaro et al 2015). These genera consist of organisms inhabiting different strata of the soil and litter (Bolton & Fisher 2008;Baccaro et al 2015).…”

Ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the seasonally dry tropical forest of northeastern Brazil: a compilation from field surveys in Bahia and literature records

“…Data on ant species recorded in the Caatingas available in literature were compiled from distinct sources: taxonomic reviews (Kempf 1975;Brandão 1990;Mackay 1993;De Andrade & Baroni-Urbani 1999;Bolton 2000;Albuquerque & Brandão 2004;Dietz 2004;Klingenberg & Brandão 2009), description of new species (Forel 1911), ecological investigations (Brandão 1995;Santos et al 1999;Leal 2002;Leal 2003;Quinet & Tavares 2005;Leal et al 2007;Tabatinga-Filho & Leal 2007;Oliveira et al 2009;Neves et al 2010;Silva et al 2010;Brito 2011;Carvalho et al 2011;Garro et al 2011;Marques & Soares 2011;Nunes et al 2011;Silva 2011a;Silva 2011b;Macêdo 2012) and an ethological study . The main sampling techniques used in the compiled ecological investigations were sardine or honey baits and pitfall traps.…”

“…In areas of arboreal caatinga, this technique has been applied only recently (Silva 2011a;Macêdo 2012). Our Winkler extracted samples in Milagres allowed us to add 23 new records of species for the biome (highlighted in Table I with an asterisk), which means an increase of almost 14% in the number of previously recognized species for the Caatingas, including a recently described species of Oxyepoecus (Myrmicinae, Solenopsidini), O. regularis Ulysséa & Brandão, 2012. It is important to note that updated global and regional catalogues of ant species were published in the last decade (Bolton 2003;Bolton et al 2006;Palácio & Fernández 2003), new mechanisms were made available for online identification (Longino 2005;Sarnat 2008), and tribes as well as widely distributed genera and subfamilies were partially or totally revised: Amblyoponinae (Yoshimura & Fisher 2012 (Lattke et al 2007); Linepithema (Wild 2007); Megalomyrmex (Brandão 1990(Brandão , 2003; Mycetophylax, Paramycetophylax and Kalathomyrmex (Klingenberg & Brandão 2009), Oxyepoecus (Albuquerque & Brandão 2004; Pheidole of the Americas (Wilson 2003); Prenolepis (LaPolla et al 2010), Trachymyrmex species groups (Mayhé- Nunes & Brandão 2002, 2005, 2007 and Wasmannia (Longino & Fernández 2007). These revisions, associated with the direct comparison with specimens deposited in the collection of Hymenoptera in the MZSP, allowed the identification at species-level of most of the analyzed material.…”

A new ant species of Oxyepoecus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae), with the description of Oxyepoecus browni gyne and new records for the genus

“…nov., based on workers and a gyne collected in "Caatinga Arbórea" (Arboreal Shrubland) in Milagres and "Mata Seca" (Dry Forest) in Boa Vista do Tupim, both in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The gyne of Oxyepoecus browni Albuquerque & Brandão, 2004, collected in the same leaf litter ant survey, is also described. In addition, we present new records for Oxyepoecus species in Northeastern Brazil.general Information: Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (PAZ) and Arquivos de Zoologia (AZ) cover primarily the fields of Zoology, publishing original contributions in systematics, paleontology, evolutionary biology, ontogeny, faunistic studies, and biogeography.…”

“…nov., based on workers and a gyne collected in "Caatinga Arbórea" (Arboreal Shrubland) in Milagres and "Mata Seca" (Dry Forest) in Boa Vista do Tupim, both in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The gyne of Oxyepoecus browni Albuquerque & Brandão, 2004, collected in the same leaf litter ant survey, is also described. In addition, we present new records for Oxyepoecus species in Northeastern Brazil.…”