Eurhopalothrix
Creators: name: Longino, John T.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Eurhopalothrix

description: Key to New World Eurhopalothrix (workers)
1. Face, dorsal mesosoma, and first gastral tergite covered with uniform ground pilosity of appressed spatulate setae, lacking differentiated erect or suberect setae projecting above ground pilosity; posterior face of propodeum with broad, rectangular lamella, not differentiated into acute propodeal spine (Fig. 4); HW <0.5 (Argentina)......................... E. bruchi
- Face, dorsal mesosoma, and first gastral tergite with thin, non-spatulate ground pilosity or, if with conspicuous spatulate ground pilosity, then accompanied by differentiated larger suberect to erect spatulate setae; posterior face of propodeum as above or with distinct acute propodeal spines; HW variable.................................................... 2
2. Face with well-defined transverse ridge that separates posterior and anterior portions of face, or clypeus with transverse ridge that separates small posterior triangular portion and larger, concave anterior portion (Fig. 5).......................... 3
- Neither face nor clypeus with transverse ridge.............................................................. 5
3. Transverse ridge on face, not on clypeus................................................................... 4
- Transverse ridge on clypeus, not on face (Guyana)................................................... E. clypeata
4. Face with 16 large spatulate setae (Brazil).......................................................... E. depressa
- Face lacking spatulate setae (Cuba).................................................................. E. cimu
5. Larger erect to suberect setae of face 12–20, distinctly differentiated from ground pilosity (Fig. 6A) or grading into and diffi- cult to distinguish from spatulate ground pilosity (Fig. 6 B)..................................................... 6
- Larger erect setae at most 10; ground pilosity thin, distinctly differentiated from erect setae (Fig. 6 C).................. 22
6. Propodeal spines in the form of broad, foliaceous crests that extend down posterior face of propodeum (Fig. 7A); face and dorsal surface of scapes covered with ground pilosity of conspicuous, broad appressed spatulate setae..................... 7
- Propodeal spines in form of acute triangles, with a narrow carina extending ventrally (Fig. 7 B); dorsal surface of scapes with spatulate or narrower appressed setae, ground pilosity of face variable............................................ 8
7. HW <0.6, CI 89–97 (Central America)........................................................... E. pilulifera
- HW> 0.9, CI> 100 (southern Brazil)................................................................ E. lenkoi
8. HW <0.56; CI 96; ground pilosity conspicuous, spatulate; differentiated erect setae strongly spatulate, as broad as long; first gastral tergite with spatulate setae in double row of 4–5 pairs down the middle, flanked by 2 or 3 additional setae (Trinidad)............................................................................................ E. alopeciosa
- HW> 0.55; CI> 95; other characters variable............................................................... 9
9. Eye large, about 9 ommatidia across long axis (Fig. 8A); legs relatively long, hind tibia length about 0.6 HW; angle between anterior and dorsal faces of petiolar node obtuse; first gastral tergite with 4 pairs spatulate setae; ground pilosity of face uniformly distributed; masticatory margin of mandible with single tooth row (Costa Rica)..................... E. megalops
- Eye small, 3–6 ommatidia across long axis (Fig. 8 B); legs relatively short, hind tibia length about 0.4–0.5 HW; other characters variable......................................................................................... 10
10. Masticatory margin of mandible with double row of teeth, outer series of lower triangular teeth, inner row of 3–4 long, spini- form teeth (Fig. 1 B, C); promesonotum rugose and puncta obliterated and frons with a distinct raised median carina...... 11
- Masticatory margin with single row of triangular teeth (Fig. 1 A); promesonotum smooth (and sometimes shining) between dis- tinct puncta and frons without a distinct raised median carina.................................................. 15
11. Erect setae on face filiform to weakly clavate, not strongly spatulate (Fig. 9A) (Cuba)....................... E. mabuya
- Erect setae on face strongly spatulate (Fig. 9 B)............................................................. 12
12. Basal lobe of scape strongly developed, SLI> 15........................................................... 13
- Basal lobe of scape less developed, SLI <14............................................................... 14
13. Smaller, HW 0.57–0.66; basal lobe of scape more developed, SLI 21–25; color orange; posterior mesonotum lacking pronounced longitudinal keel (Fig. 10A) (Honduras to Costa Rica).......................................... E. xibalba
- Larger, HW 0.69–0.83; basal lobe of scape less developed, SLI 15–21; color dark brown; posterior mesonotum with a pronounced, short longitudinal keel between the posteriormost pair of spatulate setae (Fig. 10 B) (Mexico, Guatemala)...................................................................................................... E. hunhau
14. Petiolar peduncle relatively thin in lateral view (Fig. 11A); head narrower (Fig. 11 C), CI 97–99; size smaller, HW 0.71–0.74 (Guadeloupe, Dominica).................................................................. E. guadeloupensis
- Petiolar peduncle thicker (Fig. 11 B); head broader (Fig. 11 D), CI 110–115; size larger, HW 0.83–0.94 (widespread). E. gravis 15. Promesonotal dorsum with 3 pairs of large, broadly spatulate setae; projecting setae of face prominent, spatulate, of uniform size, strongly differentiated from ground pilosity*; ground pilosity of face more or less uniformly distributed across frons, vertex lobes, and frontal carinae; first gastral tergite with 4 pairs spatulate setae, these of similar size and shape to those on face, distributed in two longitudinal rows...................................................................... 16 - Promesonotal dorsum with 0–2 pairs of filiform to spatulate setae, clearly differentiated from ground pilosity; projecting setae of face as above or differing in size and grading into ground pilosity; ground pilosity of face as above or variously restricted to symmetrical patches on each side of the midline; first gastral tergite with projecting setae variable.................... 17 * singleton from Costa Rica will fail at this couplet and may be a distinct species. See Comments under E. oscillum.
description: Published as part of Longino, John T., 2013, A review of the Central American and Caribbean species of the ant genus Eurhopalothrix Brown and Kempf, 1961 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), with a key to New World species, pp. 101-151 in Zootaxa 3693 (2) on pages 107-110, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3693.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/249157