Abstract
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.
Highlights
The leaf litter of the American tropics harbors several rare ant genera, known from scant specimens, and virtually lacking natural history data. One such genus is Protalaridris, described in 1980 by William Brown, Jr. from workers taken from humid forests in Ecuador and Colombia
The genus Octostruma was revised by Longino (2013a), the Central American and Caribbean species of Eurhopalothrix were reviewed by Longino (2013b), and Rhopalothrix was reviewed by Longino & Boudinot (2013)
Differences in mandibular morphology were the main argument for proposing most of these genera but subsequent work has shown that long-mandibulate species are nested within the short-mandibulate groups (Ward et al, 2015)
Summary
The leaf litter of the American tropics harbors several rare ant genera, known from scant specimens, and virtually lacking natural history data. Armata species-group: mandibles long and slender, in full length view straight to slightly arched, insertions remote, shafts crossing at apices when completely closed, each tapering apicad towards medially directed apical tooth, tooth dark brown, shining, and acutely pointed.
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