Abstract
Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) is a widespread and conspicuous New World ponerine ant (subfamily Ponerinae). To examine the geographic distribution of P. harpax, I compiled and mapped published and unpublished specimen records from >1500 sites. I documented the earliest known P. harpax records for 28 geographic areas (countries, West Indian islands, and US states), including four for which I found no previously published records: the islands of Guadeloupe, Margarita, and Tobago and the US state of Georgia. Pachycondyla harpax has been recorded from every country in South and Central America except Chile and Uruguay. Pachycondyla harpax is also now known from six West Indian islands: Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Margarita, Trinidad, and Tobago. The known continental range of P. harpax appears to be essentially continuous, extending from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in the south (31.8°S) to Wood County, Texas in the north (32.8°N), including the continental islands of Margarita, Tobago, and Trinidad. Isolated island populations of P. harpax on Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica may be exotic, introduced through human commerce. In the US, it is unclear why P. harpax populations are only known from Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, when there would appear to be suitable habitat for this species all along the Gulf coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.
Highlights
Ponerine ants include >1000 species (Bolton 2015), many of which are well known for their potent sting
Pachycondyla harpax has been recorded from every country in South and Central America except Chile and Uruguay (Table 1)
The native continental range of P. harpax appears to be essentially continuous from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (31.8°S) in the south to Wood County, Texas (32.8°N) in the north (Fig 2)
Summary
Ponerine ants (subfamily Ponerinae) include >1000 species (Bolton 2015), many of which are well known for their potent sting. Brachyponera sennaarensis (Mayr) (formerly Pachycondyla sennaarensis) is a widespread species of sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East that is well known for its powerful sting, which sometimes leads to anaphylactic shock in humans and even death (Wetterer, 2013). Brachyponera chinensis (Emery) (formerly Pachycondyla chinensis) is an East Asian species spreading through the eastern US that has a painful sting that can induce severe allergic reaction (Guénard & Dunn, 2010). Wittenborn and Jeschke (2011) included P. harpax on a list of exotic ant species established in North America. Based on Wittenborn and Jeschke (2011), Miravete et al (2013; retracted) listed P. harpax as Neotropical species from South
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