Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802)

Barreno, Marissa, López, Myriam Arias de, Pazmiño-Palomino, Alex & Molina-Moreira, Natalia, 2025, A first overview of ant diversity in mangroves along the Ecuadorian coast, Revista Brasileira de Entomologia (e 20240062) 69 (1), pp. 1-16 : 5-6

Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802) ( Fig. 7 )

Identification: The only species of the genus found outside the Afrotropical region ( Fernández and Ortiz-Sepúlveda, 2019); similar looking to Nylanderia, but P. longicornis lacks erect hairs on the scape being what distinguish it to this genus.

Comments: It is one of the most successful exotic species, but its origin is hypothesized to be in Southeast Asia ( Wetterer, 2008). In Ecuador, it has been reported from the humid forests of the northwestern foothills ( Ramón et al., 2013), inter-Andean valleys of the southern Andes ( Salazar et al., 2015), and multiple islands of the Galápagos Archipelago ( Herrera et al., 2024).

Figures

Figure 7 Paratrechina longicornis. a) lateral view, b) full face view, and c) dorsal view of worker. Images by Marissa Barreno. Scale 0.5 mm.