The ants of the Galápagos Islands (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): a historical overview, checklist, and identification key.

The Galápagos ant fauna has long been understudied, with the last taxonomic summary being published almost a century ago. Here, a comprehensive and updated overview of the known ant species of the Galápagos Islands is provided with updated species distributions. The list is based on an extensive review of literature, the identification of more than 382,000 specimens deposited in different entomological collections, and recent expeditions to the islands. The ant fauna is composed of five subfamilies (Dolichoderinae, Dorylinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae), 22 genera, 50 species, and 25 subspecies, although three species (Crematogastercrinosa Mayr, 1862, Camponotussenex (Smith, 1858), and Solenopsissaevissima (Smith, 1855)) are considered dubious records. Finally, an illustrated identification key of the species found in the archipelago is presented.

The ants of the genus Rhopalothrix Mayr, 1870 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) in Colombia.

The ants of the genus Rhopalothrix are diverse in the Neotropical region, with 14 of the 16 described species. Based on museum material and recent fieldwork, Rhopalothrix ants in Colombia were reviewed. Morphological analysis of the workers allowed delimitation of six species, including two new species, Rhopalothrixmandibularis Guerrero & Grajales, sp. nov. and Rhopalothrixmariaemirae Tocora, Fiorentino & Fernández, sp. nov. A new combination Rhopalothrixamaticomb. nov. is proposed for Eurhopalothrixamati. A worker-based taxonomic key, high-definition images of the workers, and a distribution map of all Rhopalothrix species present in Colombia are provided.

A new species of Metopiellus (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae) from the northern Colombian Amazon.

The genus Metopiellus (Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae) is confirmed in Colombia with the description of Metopiellusguanano sp. nov. from the northern Amazon. Major diagnostic characters, a distributional map, and ecological data are given. Finally, a previous taxonomic key to Metopiellus is updated to include the new species.

New records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for Colombia / Nuevos registros de hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) para Colombia

Abstract Even though Colombia has high levels of ant species richness in the Neotropical region, this richness continues to increase. New records of the ant subfamilies Amblyoponinae, Dolichoderinae, Dorylinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae are presented. Two species of Fulakora, two species of Azteca, one species of Cylindromyrmex, 25 species of Myrmicinae belonging to 12 genera (Acanthognathus, Basiceros, Daceton, Eurhopalothrix, Hylomyrma, Mycetomoellerius, Mycetophylax, Mycocepurus, Octostruma, Pheidole, Rogeria, and Talaridris), and one species of Leptogenys are registered for the first time for Colombia. Five species are new records for South America. For each species, the geographical distance of the record closest to the Colombian locality is offered. Several factors, such as access to previously unexplored conserved areas, sampling techniques that cover heterogeneous microhabitats such as leaf litter, and many more taxonomic researches have allowed the knowledge of ant fauna in Colombia to continue growing.

Resumen Aunque Colombia tiene altos niveles de riqueza de especies de hormigas en la región neotropical, esta riqueza continúa aumentando. Se presentan nuevos registros de las subfamilias de hormigas Amblyoponinae, Dolichoderinae, Dorylinae, Myrmicinae y Ponerinae. Se registran por primera vez para Colombia, dos especies de Fulakora, dos especies de Azteca, una especie de Cylindromyrmex, 25 especies de Myrmicinae pertenecientes a 12 géneros (Acanthognathus, Basiceros, Daceton, Eurhopalothrix, Hylomyrma, Mycetomoellerius, Mycetophylax, Mycocepurus, Octostruma, Pheidole, Rogeria, y Talaridris), y una especie de Leptogenys. Cinco especies son nuevos registros para América del Sur. Para cada especie, se ofrece la distancia geográfica del registro más cercano a la localidad colombiana. Varios factores, como el acceso a áreas conservadas previamente inexploradas, las técnicas de muestreo que cubren microhábitats heterogéneos, como la hojarasca, y muchas más investigaciones taxonómicas han permitido que el conocimiento de la fauna de hormigas en Colombia continúe creciendo.

A preliminary checklist of soil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Colombian Amazon.

BACKGROUND: This paper presents an updated list of soil ants of the Colombian Amazon collected in three different river basins: the Amazon, the Caquetá and the Putumayo. The list includes 10 subfamilies, 60 genera and 218 species collected from TSBF monoliths at four different depths (Litter, 0 - 10 cm, 10 - 20 cm and 20 - 30 cm). This updated list increases considerably the knowledge of edaphic macrofauna of the region, due to the limited published information about soil ant diversity in the Colombian Amazon region. NEW INFORMATION: This is the first checklist of soil ant diversity of the Colombian Amazon region. Six new records of species for Colombia are exposed: Acropyga tricuspis (LaPolla, 2004), Typhlomyrmex clavicornis (Emery, 1906), Typhlomyrmex meire (Lacau, Villemant & Delabie, 2004), Cyphomyrmex bicornis (Forel, 1895), Megalomyrmex emeryi (Forel, 1904) and Myrmicocrypta spinosa (Weber, 1937), most of them corresponding to subterranean ants.