Mexico ants: incidence and abundance along the Nearctic–Neotropical interface

Abstract

Mexico is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with an important proportion of endemism mainly because of the convergence of the Nearctic and Neotropical biogeographic regions, which generate great diversity and species turnover at different spatial scales. However, most of our knowledge of the Mexican ant biota is limited to a few well‐studied taxa, and we lack a comprehensive synthesis of ant biodiversity information. For instance, most of the knowledge available in the literature on Mexican ant fauna refers only to species lists by states, or is focused on only a few regions of the country, which prevents the study of several basic and applied aspects of ants, from diversity and distribution to conservation. Our aims in this data paper are therefore (1) to compile all the information available regarding ants across the Mexican territory, and (2) to identify major patterns in the gathered data set and geographic gaps in order to direct future sampling efforts. All records were obtained from raw data, including both unpublished and published information. After exhaustive filtering and updating information and synonyms, we compiled a total of 21,731 records for 887 ant species distributed throughout Mexico from 1894 to 2018. These records were concentrated mainly in the states of Chiapas (n = 6,902, 32.76%) and Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (n = 4,329, 19.92%), which together comprise half the records. The subfamily with the highest number of records was Myrmicinae (n = 10,458 records, 48.12%), followed by Formicinae (n = 3,284, 15.11%) and Ponerinae (n = 1,914, 8.8%). Most ant records were collected in the Neotropical region of the country (n = 12,646, 58.19%), followed by the Mexican transition zone (n = 5,237, 24.09%) and the Nearctic region (n = 3,848, 17.72%). Native species comprised 95.46% of the records (n = 20,745). To the best of our knowledge, this is the most complete data set available to date in the literature for the country. We hope that this compilation will encourage researchers to explore different aspects of the population and community research of ants at different spatial scales, and to aid in the establishment of conservation policies and actions. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using its data for publications or teaching events.

Environmental drivers of ant dominance in a tropical rainforest canopy at different spatial scales

“…The ants that fell onto this piece of fabric were also collected. Then, all the ants were sorted, mounted, and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level using the reference collection from the Los Tuxtlas study site (Antoniazzi et al ., 2020) and according to the MEXICO ANTS database (Dáttilo et al ., 2020) with the support of specialists from the entomological collection (IEXA) of Instituto de Ecología A.C. (INECOL), Xalapa, Mexico.…”

Ant social foraging strategies along a Neotropical gradient of urbanization

“…Number of individuals of native (N) and exotic (E) ant species collected along a built cover gradient in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Native and exotic species were classified following Dáttilo et al 30 . Percentage of built cover 0 0 0 20 30 33 47 55 61 70 80 90 95 100 Atta mexicana (Smith, 1858) Myrmicinae N ----3 ---------Brachymyrmex obscurior Forel, 1893 Formicinae N -1 -85 4 --1 1 13 19 -88 -Camponotus planatus Roger, 1863 Formicinae N ----1 5 1 ---3 ---Cardiocondyla emeryi Forel, 1881 Myrmicinae N --------2 -----Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, 1899 Myrmicinae E ---------6 --- Finally, we did not record differences in ant species composition after 15 and 120 min of observation, regardless of the type of bait (PERMANOVA: tuna: F 1,28 = 1.01, r 2 = 0.03, p = 0.43; honey: F 1,28 = 1.15, r 2 = 0.048, p = 0.35) or when ants sampled using each bait were grouped together (PERMANOVA: F 1,28 = 1.23, r 2 = 0.04, p = 0.24).…”

“…Initially, we evaluated the relationship between the built cover gradient (as an explanatory variable) and ant species richness and the proportion of exotic ant species sampled on tuna and honey bait (as response variables) using generalized linear models (GLMs). Native and exotic species were classified following Dáttilo et al 30 for Mexico. Due to the nature of the response variables, a Poisson error distribution was employed for species richness and a quasibinomial error distribution with a logit link function for the proportion of exotic ant species because the data exhibited overdispersion (residual deviance > residual degrees of freedom).…”

Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Temperate Ecosystem from La Malinche National Park, Mexico

“…Rojas (2001) reported that Tlaxcala, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, and the state of Mexico were areas with the least ant diversity; however, it is believed that this is merely the result of having been poorly studied. Velasco Corona et al (2007) Dáttilo et al (2019) has reported 9 species in La Malinche National Park. As a result of the above studies, 53 species, 23 genera, 16 tribes, and 7 subfamilies were reported for Tlaxcala State.…”

“…and Dáttilo et al (2019) in the La Malinche National Park. Prior to these studies,Landero-Torres et al (2015) reported on the first ant species on record (P. ceres) in La Malinche National Park, but recorded from pine and oyamel forest at 3,086 masl.…”