Worldwide Spread of the Graceful Twig Ant,Pseudomyrmex Gracilis(Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pseudomyrmex gracilis is a large, slender arboreal ant with a painful sting. This species has a broad native range spanning much of the New World tropics and subtropics. In addition, P. gracilis has established exotic populations, notably in Florida and Hawaii. Here, I compiled and mapped records of P. gracilis from >1500 sites in 32 geographic areas (countries and US states) to evaluate its worldwide distribution and update information on its recent spread. Pseudomyrmex gracilis has an essentially continuous distribution ranging from southern Uruguay (∼34.9°S) and central Argentina (∼34.5°S), through much of South and Central America, to southern Texas (∼31.3°N), with recent records (all since 1995) in southern Louisiana (29.9–31.3°N). Populations of P. gracilis were first discovered in southeast Florida in 1960. Since then, P. gracilis populations have expanded northward in Florida, up to ∼30.8°N. In 2009, a P. gracilis population was discovered in Mississippi (∼30.6°N). Genetic analyses are ne...