Nesomyrmex pulcher Emery

Pazmiño-Palomino, Alex, Troya, Adrián & Arredondo, Brandon S., 2025, Nesomyrmex paquisha: a new rough tree ant species from the isolated Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador, Journal of Natural History 59 (17 - 20), pp. 1181-1208 : 1196

Nesomyrmex pulcher Emery

( Figures 7 , 9 )

Material examined

ECUADOR: 1 ☿; Napo, Carlos Julio Arosemena Tola ; 1.11667°S, 77.81667°W; 480 m; 09 August 1991; P .S . Ward leg .; Manual ; MECN-EN-24887 . • 1☿; Orellana . Aguarico . Tiputini . Parque Nacional Yasuní, Tiputini Biodiversity Station ; 0.6319°S, 76.1441°W; 220–250 m; 31 January 2002; T . Erwin et al ., legs.; canopy fogging; MEPN 3838 . • 1☿; Sucumbíos, Reserva de Producción de Fauna Cuyabeno , Trocha Zábalo-Guepí (Km 10); 0.631°S, 76.013°W; 270 m ., 08 August 2000; P . Araujo leg .; canopy fogging; MEPN 3189 .

Comments

Nesomyrmex pulcher presents the following diagnostic characters: Mesonotum laterally projecting as a triangular lobe; mesosoma strongly constricted in front and behind of this lobe; humeri or pronotum sharply angulated or even dentate; petiolar and postpetiolar nodes posterolaterally with prominent spines or teeth; antennal scapes when pulled back surpassing the occipital margin; larger species, WL 1.4 mm or more; antennae with 12 antennomeres.

The species N. anduzei , N. pulcher and N. sculptiventris are similar. Nesomyrmex pulcher differs from N. sculptiventris by the humeral angles obtusely angulate, almost rounded (sharply in N. pulcher ); petiolar and postpetiolar nodes lacking posterolaterally prominent spines or teeth (prominent spines or teeth); while N. pulcher differs from N. anduzei by mesonotum laterally projecting as a triangular lobe (rounded lobe in N. anduzei ) and lateral margins of mesosoma deeply constricted anterior and posterior to mesonotal lobe (weakly constricted in N. anduzei ).

In the MECN collection there is a duplicate of specimen CASENT0914996, uploaded to Antweb (2024), collected by P.S. Ward in 1991. Apart from these specimens, there are collections in Yasuní National Park and Cuyabeno Reserve, two large protected areas in the Amazon lowlands. With these records, we confirm and expand the distribution of this species in Ecuador. This species is known only from Bolivia and Ecuador ( Guénard et al. 2017) ( Table 1).

Figures

Figure 7. Nesomyrmex pulcher (Emery). (A) frontal view; (B) dorsal view; (C) lateral view. Scale bars = 1 mm. Images by B. Arredondo.

Figure 9. Distribution of Nesomyrmex paquisha sp. n. and new Nesomyrmex species records in Ecuador. Image by the authors.