Aphaenogaster boulderensis Smith, M.R. 1941

• Main Authors: Shattuck, Steve, Cover, Stefan
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Arthropoda; Insecta; Hymenoptera; Formicidae; Aphaenogaster; Aphaenogaster boulderensis; Horseshoe Island; Sentinel Island
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6062944; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6062944

Aphaenogaster boulderensis Smith, M.R., 1941 Aphaenogaster (Attomyrma) boulderensis Smith, M.R. 1941: 120. Holotype worker and 13 worker paratypes, Sentinel Island (as Horseshoe Island), Lake Mead [36°03′N 114°45′W], Nevada (V. M. Tanner) (National Museum of Natural History) [https://www.antweb.org/specimen/FMNHINS0000062660]. Aphaenogaster boulderensis smithi Gregg, 1949: 171. Holotype worker and 38 worker paratypes, Valley of Fires (as the Malpais Lava Beds), near Carrizozo [33°41′N 105°55′W], New Mexico (C.P. Stroud) (Field Museum of Natural History, Museum of Comparative Zoology, National Museum of Natural History) [http:// mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/ MCZ: Ent:28232] New synonym. Aphaengaster boulderensis was described by Smith (1941) based on a series of workers from Sentinel Island (as Horseshoe Island), Lake Mead, Nevada. It is a distinctive member of the North American ant fauna, being one of the few Aphaenogaster species that lacks propodeal spines (the propodeal angle being rounded and with at most a pair of low ridges). It is also characterized by its relatively elongate head and mesosoma and yellowish-brown body color, with the gaster darker in some specimens. The subspecies A. boulderensis smithi was established by Greg (1949) for workers from the Valley of Fires (as the Malpais Lava Beds), near Carrizozo, New Mexico. Gregg noted it was different from typical A. boulderensis in having a longer and more tapered head, a more elongate mesosoma with a shorter propodeum, and heavier sculpturing giving it a more opaque appearance when compared to A. boulderensis. In addition, the propodeal angle has more noticeable ridges, it lacks a minute spine on the anteroventral surface of the petiole, and it is a richer red color with a uniformly black gaster (the black extending onto the postpetiole in some specimens). Neither A. boulderensis nor A. smithi is frequently collected and Aphaenogaster smithi has received little mention in the published literature since its description. However, the scanty material ...