ARTICLE
First survey of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
of Piauí: filling a major knowledge gap about
ant diversity in Brazil
Tainara Thais Jory¹² & Rodrigo Machado Feitosa¹³
¹ Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Departamento de Zoologia (DZOO), Laboratório de Sistemática e Biologia de Formigas (LSBF).
Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
² ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4302-7396. E-mail: jorytainara@gmail.com
³ ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9042-0129. E-mail: rsmfeitosa@gmail.com (correspondent author)
Abstract. Piauí, a Brazilian Northeast state, has been considered one of the most important regions for the presence of new
taxa in ants globally, especially considering the ecosystems’ diversity formed by the transition of the three biomes in the state,
the Cerrado, Caatinga and the Atlantic Forest. Despite the recent increase in studies of ant diversity in the Neotropical region,
Piauí still represents a major knowledge gap regarding its ant fauna. Therefore, this study aimed to increase the knowledge
about the ant fauna of the state by generating a list of species with data obtained from the literature, online repositories and
collection expeditions to the Serra da Capivara and Serra das Confusões National Parks. A total of 152 species in 52 genera and
nine subfamilies were registered from 24 localities in Piauí. Fifty-eight out the 152 species recorded represent new records for
the state, eight are new records for the Brazilian Northeast Region, and one consists of a new record for the country. Eleven
species are here recognized as new for science. Considering the field expeditions carried out here, this work represents the first
standardized study for the ant fauna of Piauí. The species list presented considerably exceeds the current number of species
registered for the state so far. From the present 48 records, the number of species for Piauí raises to more than 150 with a
tendency to increase with the accomplishment of future field endeavors and advances in the study of the local ants.
Key-Words. Cerrado; Caatinga; Atlantic Forest; Taxonomy; Conservation.
INTRODUCTION
Ants are eusocial insects grouped into a single family (Formicidae), which in turn is classified
into 17 subfamilies and 334 genera (Bolton, 2019).
Ants occur in great diversity and abundance in
most ecosystems (Choe, 2012). In view of this,
ants are extremely important ecologically and
are key participants in many ecosystem processes (Lamanceau & Blouin, 2018). In addition, these
insects are also good indicators of environmental
conservation status, since they are very sensitive
to environmental stress (Silvestre et al., 2003;
Ribas et al., 2012).
In the Brazilian Northeast, anthropic action has
led to a deterioration of natural areas and drastic
changes in the relief and other characteristics of
the soil surface. The state of Piauí, located in this
region, has been suffering human disturbances
since the 1960s, when tax incentives for agricultural projects were implemented (Lacombe, 1969;
Aguiar & Monteiro, 2005). The key location of this
state in a transition zone among three Brazilian biomes, the Cerrado, the Caatinga and the Atlantic
Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2020; v.60: e20206014
http://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.14
http://www.revistas.usp.br/paz
http://www.scielo.br/paz
Edited by: Helena Carolina Onody
Received: 18/09/2019
Accepted: 30/01/2020
Published: 19/03/2020
Forest, makes it a priority for the study of diversity. Despite recent advances, which translate into
a 33% reduction in deforestation of the state’s
Cerrado areas, Piauí remains a leader in the deforestation of that biome (MMA, 2018). Also, since
it is one of the last agricultural frontiers in the
Cerrado, the southern region of the state is under
intense threat (Machado et al., 2004).
The ant fauna of Piauí has remained relatively unstudied compared to other Brazilian states
(Camargo, 2011; Prado et al., 2019). One of the
few studies involving the state’s ant fauna shows
that deforestation and loss of diversity by monocultures are very high. In the same study, the
anthropic impact on the balance of local ecosystems was highlighted, together with the need for
accurate surveys of the local diversity in order to
develop more efficient conservation policies, and
to promote the documentation of species that
are present there before they go locally extinct
(Fontes & Almeida Filho, 2002).
Considering the growing need for inventories to fill knowledge gaps about the diversity of
places that need to be given conservation priorISSN On-Line: 1807-0205
ISSN Printed: 0031-1049
ISNI: 0000-0004-0384-1825
Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2020; v.60: e20206014
2/8
ity, regional species lists are an important tool (Castro
et al., 2018; Demétrio et al., 2017; Vicente et al., 2018).
The primary data generated by the inventory of animal
and plant species are very important in decision-making
regarding environmental conservation management.
Similarly, as predominant and diverse organisms in any
terrestrial environment, sampling the local ant fauna is
essential. This is especially true when we consider the
poorly explored regions of the state of Piauí, which are,
on average, suffering more from deforestation than their
surrounding areas and therefore deserve special attention regarding conservation and investment in scientific
research. In fact, Brazil probably has a widely underestimated number of species and Piauí is where new genera
are most likely to be found (Guénard et al., 2012). In this
context, the objective of the present study is to increase
the knowledge about the ant fauna of the state of Piauí
by compiling records from literature, online repositories
and field expeditions in two of the state’s main National
Parks.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Species records were gathered from a comprehensive independent literature review and consultation of
the online repository Antmaps.org. Each species listed
here is validated by at least one published reference or
data source and the validity of names has been verified
in the Antcat.org platform (Bolton, 2019). To confirm the
occurrences (Table 1) and to prepare the map (Fig. 1),
Jory, T.T. & Feitosa, R.M.: Ants of Piauí, Brazil
the geographical coordinates, when not available in the
respective reference, were georeferenced based on the
Google Earth platform.
Table 1. Collecting locations and municipalities with ant records for the state
of Piauí, Brazil, according the specific reference list below.
Locality
Altos
Bom Jesus
Buriti dos Lopes
Canto do Buriti
Corrente
Corrente 2
Estação Ecológica Uruçuí-Uma, Bom Jesus
Floriano
Floriano 2
Jacobina do Piauí
Marvão
Matias Olimpio
Oeiras
Oeiras 2
Parnaíba
Piauí – uncertain locality
Rio Uruçuí Preto
Coordinates
05° 02′23″S 42°27′29″W
09°11′29″S 44°50′33″W
03°10′30″S 41°52′01″W
08°06′36″S 42°56′40″W
10°26′30″S 45°09′52″W
10°26′00″S 45°09′00″W
08°51′50″S 45°12′00″W
06°46′01″S 43°01′21″W
06°44′37″S 43°02′49″W
08°00′00″S 41°25′00″W
05°19′59″S 41°32′60″W
03°42′58″S 42°33′18″W
07°01′31″S 42°07′52″W
07°00′59″S 42°07′16″W
02°54′19″S 41°46′24″W
—
07°19′00″S 44°37′00″W
São Raimundo Nonato
Serra da Capivara, Coronel José Dias
Serra das Confusões, Caracol
Sete Cidades
Teresina
Timon (Maranhão)
Uruçuí
08°38′23″S 42°46′32″W
08°41′42″S 42°35′10″W
09°13′22″S 43°29′23″W
04°05′59″S 41°42′50″W
05°05′31″S 42°48′13″W
05°04′59″S 42°49′00″W
07°20′35″S 44°37′00″W
Source
14
7
10
9; 17; 22
4; 9; 10; 17
1
10
10; 17
23
2
14
10
4; 9; 22
3
14
5; 6; 8; 16; 21
3; 10; 13; 15; 17;
19; 20
23
11
12
18
14
3
3
Figure 1. Areas with ant records in the state of Piauí, Brazil, based on literature review (black circles) and collecting expeditions of the present study to the Serra das
Confusões (red circle) and Serra da Capivara (blue circle) National Parks.
Jory, T.T. & Feitosa, R.M.: Ants of Piauí, Brazil
In addition to the bibliographic survey, two collecting expeditions were made to the Serra da Capivara and
Serra das Confusões National Parks. In both parks, ants
were collected with three distinct techniques: manual capture, pitfall traps in the soil and vegetation, and
Winkler leaf-litter extractors.
Parque Nacional da Serra das Confusões is centered
between the coordinates 09°13′22″S and 43°29′23″W
and has an average elevation of approximately 700 m.
It is located in a transitional area between Caatinga and
Cerrado with a predominance of arboreal and shrubby
vegetation cover with the presence of semi-deciduous
forests in some areas, within the geographic domain of
the Atlantic Forest (Gonçalves, 2003).
Serra da Capivara National Park, on the other hand,
is centered between the coordinates 08°41′42″S and
42°35′10″W and has an average elevation of approximately 500 m. It has a relief with plateaus and valleys with
differences of up to 250 meters. In the high plateau areas,
the phytophysiognomy of dense arboreal Caatinga predominates, while in the valleys where humidity is highest, the phytophysiognomy is arboreal Caatinga, with
open understory (Barros, et al., 2012).
The specimens were processed at the Laboratory of
Ant Systematics and Biology of the Federal University of
Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. Identification to genus was accomplished with the help of the Guide for Ant Genera
of Brazil (Baccaro et al., 2015) and for species we used
the bibliographies recommended for each genus in this
same Guide (Albuquerque & Brandão, 2004; Cuezzo,
2000; Gonçalves, 1961; Jesovnik & Schultz, 2017; Kempf,
1951, 1973; Kugler, 1994; LaPolla & Fisher, 2005; Longino,
2003; Ortiz-Sepulveda et al., 2019; Schmidt & Shattuck,
2014; Watkins, 1976). Vouchers were deposited in the
Padre Jesus Santiago Moure Entomological Collection
of the Universidade Federal do Paraná (DZUP), Curitiba,
Brazil.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A total of 152 ant species/morphospecies were recorded in the state of Piauí in 52 genera and nine subfamilies distributed in 24 locations (Table 1). A total of 96
species were namely identified (63%) and 56 remained
as morphospecies due to the lack of taxonomic resolution for their genera. The most diverse subfamilies were
Myrmicinae, with 94 species, and Formicinae, with 21
species, represented by 25 and five genera, respectively.
Among the genera, Pheidole had the highest number of
species, 25, followed by Solenopsis, with 16 species, and
Camponotus with 13 species. Considering the ant genera
listed, 31 represent new records for the state. Regarding
the species, 58 are new records, all of which are collected in Parque Nacional da Serra da Capivara and Parque
Nacional da Serra das Confusões. Eight species represent new records for the Northeast Region of the country: Camponotus mus Roger, 1863, Hylomyrma blandiens
Kempf, 1961, Pheidole cardinalis Wilson, 2003, Pheidole
fracticeps Wilson, 2003, Pheidole geraesensis Santschi,
Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2020; v.60: e20206014
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1929, Pheidole microps Wilson, 2003, Pheidole nubila
Emery, 1906, and Strumigenys hindenburgi Forel, 1915.
Additionally, there is a new record for Brazil, represented
by the species Pheidole microps Wilson, 2003.
The diversity pattern found among the recorded taxa
was somewhat expected as the two subfamilies and the
most diverse genera in this paper are extremely rich and
widely distributed in the Neotropical region (Ward et al.,
2015). Myrmicinae can be considered the most successful group among all subfamilies of Formicidae, comprising almost 50% of the diversity of Formicidae (Ward et al.,
2015; Bolton, 2019). Their dominance can be explained
by the broad feeding and reproductive strategies (Agosti
et al., 2000; Hamidi et al., 2017). Thus, the results obtained
for this subfamily are within the expectations of the literature, since approximately 62% of the species registered
in the state of Piauí belong to this group.
From the eight new ant species firstly recorded for
the Northeast Region of Brazil, seven belong to megadiverse genera, including Pheidole, Camponotus, and
Strumigenys. This highlights the importance of specific-level identification for an ant inventories, since these
new records are both an artifact of the lack of expertise
to identify these genera and the lack of data collection
in Piauí state. In fact, different ant collections in Brazil
probably hold unidentified specimens of Pheidole,
Camponotus and similar genera that could be new records in species lists and surveys.
Two exotic species, Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus,
1758) and Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802), were
recorded. These species had already been recorded for
neighboring states (AntMaps, 2019; Prado et al., 2019).
Monomorium pharaonis is considered a species of medical importance in many parts of the world, including
Brazil, specifically in hospitals, where it is a potential carrier of pathogens (Wetterer, 2010). Paratrechina longicornis is considered an urban and agricultural pest in most
of the tropics and subtropics of the world for infesting
buildings and facilitating the multiplication of populations of Hemiptera that feed on plant phloem (Wetterer,
2008).
We recognize at least 11 new ant species (Table 2), of
which one belongs to the genus Mycetophylax, one to
Mycocepurus and nine to Pheidole. This demonstrates the
great potential of this region to reveal taxonomic novelties, as predicted by Guénard et al. (2012), even though
these authors referred to potential new genera.
Regarding the relative contribution of each data
source (literature and expeditions) to compose the final
list of species in Piauí, literature contributed 25% of the
registered species (38 species), while the collecting expeditions were responsible for 75% of the species (114 species), 71 collected in Serra da Capivara and 101 in Serra
das Confusões. It is noteworthy that all 58 new species
records for the state come from these collecting expeditions. From the species collected specifically in the expeditions, 79 were sampled with pitfall traps in the soil, 21
were manually collected, and 27 were exclusively found
in leaf-litter samples submitted to the Winkler extractor.
This highlights the importance of collecting expeditions
Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2020; v.60: e20206014
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Jory, T.T. & Feitosa, R.M.: Ants of Piauí, Brazil
Table 2. Ant species recorded for the state of Piauí, Brazil. Numbers in the second column refer to the sources from which the occurrence information was obtained
for each species, presented in the specific reference list below and in Table 1. Genera and species indicated with an asterisk (*) represent new records for the state of
Piauí, two asterisks (**) represent new records for the Northeast Region of Brazil and three asterisks (***) represent new records for Brazil. Species indicated with
a dagger (†) were recorded exclusively within the domain of the Atlantic Forest in the state, while all the other species were present only in savanna environments
(Caatinga and/or Cerrado).
Taxon
Source
Sampling methods for
sources 11 and 12
Amblyoponinae
Source
Sampling methods for
sources 11 and 12
Camponotus arboreus (Smith, 1858)*
11; 12
Hand collection
Camponotus blandus (Smith, 1858)*
11; 12
Taxon
Camponotus Mayr, 1861
Prionopelta Mayr, 1866*
Prionopelta punctulata Mayr, 1866*
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Dolichoderinae
Camponotus cingulatus Mayr, 1862*
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Azteca Forel, 1878
Camponotus crassus Mayr, 1862*
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Azteca sp. 1
12
Hand collection
Camponotus melanoticus Emery, 1894*
Azteca sp. 2
11
Hand collection
Camponotus mus Roger, 1863**
Dorymyrmex Mayr, 1866
Camponotus renggeri Emery, 1894
Dorymyrmex goeldii Forel, 1904
9
Dorymyrmex sp. 1 aff. pyramicus
11; 12
Dorymyrmex sp. 2
Dorymyrmex sp. 3
Dorymyrmex sp. 4
Camponotus substitutus Forel, 1899*
11; 12
Hand collection
Epigeic pitfall traps
Camponotus vittatus Forel, 1904*
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Camponotus sp. 1
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Camponotus sp. 2
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Camponotus sp. 3
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Camponotus sp. 4
12
Hand collection
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
12
Winkler extractor
12
Hand collection
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Forelius Emery, 1888
Forelius brasiliensis (Forel, 1908)*
Forelius pusillus Santschi, 1922
8
Forelius sp. 1
11; 12
Nylanderia Emery, 1906*
Nylanderia sp. 1†
Epigeic pitfall traps
Gracilidris Wild & Cuezzo, 2006
Gracilidris pombero Wild & Cuezzo, 2006
19; 22
Paratrechina Motschoulsky, 1863*
Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802)*
18
Heteroponerinae
Linepithema Mayr, 1866*
Acanthoponera Mayr, 1862*
Linepithema neotropicum Wild, 2007*
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Tapinoma Foerster, 1850*
Acanthoponera mucronata (Roger, 1860)*
Myrmicinae
Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793)*
12
Hand collection
Tapinoma sp. 1
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Acromyrmex Mayr, 1865
Acromyrmex landolti (Forel, 1885)
14; 16
Dorylinae
Acromyrmex rugosus (Smith, 1858)
11; 12; 14; 16
Acanthostichus Mayr, 1887*
Apterostigma Mayr, 1865*
Acanthostichus sp. 1 aff. brevicornis
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Eciton Latreille, 1804*
Apterostigma gr. pilosum sp. 1†
Epigeic pitfall traps
12
Atta Fabricius, 1804
Eciton dulcium Forel, 1912*
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Labidus Jurine, 1807*
Labidus coecus (Latreille, 1802)*
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Neivamyrmex Borgmeier, 1940
Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858)
16
Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758)
11; 16
Epigeic pitfall traps
11; 12; 7
Epigeic pitfall traps
Blepharidatta Wheeler, 1915
Neivamyrmex diana (Forel, 1912)*
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Blepharidatta conops Kempf, 1967
Neivamyrmex minensis (Borgmeier, 1928)*
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Carebara Westwood, 1840*
Neivamyrmex pertii (Shuckard, 1840)
16
Atta opaciceps Borgmeier, 1939
5; 16
Ectatomminae
Ectatomma Smith, 1858
Carebara gr. lignata sp. 1†
12
Winkler extractor
Carebara brevipilosa Fernández, 2004*
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Cephalotes Latreille, 1802
Ectatomma muticum Mayr, 1870
6; 11; 12; 19; 22
Epigeic pitfall traps
Gnamptogenys Roger, 1863*
Gnamptogenys striatula Mayr, 1884*
Gnamptogenys sulcata (Smith, 1858)*†
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
12
Hand collection
Formicinae
Acropyga Roger, 1862*
Cephalotes atratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
10
Cephalotes betoi De Andrade, 1999
10; 19; 11, 12; 22
Hand collection
10; 12; 19; 22
Hand collection
Cephalotes clypeatus (Fabricius, 1804)
Cephalotes cordatus (Smith, 1853)
10
Cephalotes fiebrigi (Forel, 1906)
10
Cephalotes minutus (Fabricius, 1804)
Acropyga goeldii Forel, 1893*†
12
Winkler extractor
Brachymyrmex Mayr, 1868*
Cephalotes pavonii (Latreille, 1809)*
Cephalotes persimilis De Andrade, 1999
Brachymyrmex coactus Mayr, 1887*†
Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr, 1868*
12
Winkler extractor
Cephalotes pinelii (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Cephalotes pusillus (Klug, 1824)
10; 19; 22
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
10; 12; 19; 22
Hand collection
10
10; 11; 12; 19; 22
Epigeic pitfall traps
Brachymyrmex pictus Mayr, 1887*
12
Winkler extractor
Crematogaster Lund, 1831*
Brachymyrmex sp. 1 aff. fiebrigi
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Crematogaster crinosa Mayr, 1862*
11; 12
Hand collection
Brachymyrmex sp. 2
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Crematogaster pygmaea Forel, 1904*
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
†
Jory, T.T. & Feitosa, R.M.: Ants of Piauí, Brazil
Taxon
Crematogaster sp. 1 aff. obscurata
Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2020; v.60: e20206014
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Source
Sampling methods for
sources 11 and 12
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Cyphomyrmex Mayr, 1862
Source
Sampling methods for
sources 11 and 12
Rogeria curvipubens Emery, 1894*†
12
Winkler extractor
Rogeria foreli Emery, 1894*†
12
Winkler extractor
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Sericomyrmex mayri Forel, 1912†
3; 12; 15
Winkler extractor
Sericomyrmex scrobifer Forel, 1911
3; 15
Taxon
Cyphomyrmex rimosus (Spinola, 1851)*
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Rogeria lirata Kugler, 1994*
Cyphomyrmex transversus Emery, 1894
11; 12; 19; 22
Epigeic pitfall traps,
Winkler extractor
Sericomyrmex Mayr, 1865
12
Winkler extractor
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Cyphomyrmex sp. 1†
Hylomyrma Forel, 1912*
Hylomyrma blandiens Kempf, 1961**
Solenopsis Westwood, 1840
Kalathomyrmex Klingenberg & Brandão, 2009
Kalathomyrmex emeryi (Forel, 1907)
12; 17; 19; 22
Hand collection
Monomorium Mayr, 1855*
Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus, 1758)*
12
Hand collection
Mycetarotes Emery, 1913*
Mycetarotes parallelus (Emery, 1906)*†
12
Hand collection
Mycetomoellerius Solomon et al., 2019*
Mycetomoellerius sp. 1†
12
Hand collection
Mycetophylax Emery, 1913*
Mycetophylax sp. n.
12
Epigeic pitfall traps,
Winkler extractor
Mycocepurus Forel, 1893*
Mycocepurus sp. n.†
12
Hand collection
Myrmicocrypta Smith, 1860*
Myrmicocrypta sp. 1
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Oxyepoecus Santschi, 1926
Oxyepoecus kempfi Albuquerque & Brandão, 2004
1; 22
Oxyepoecus sp. 1 aff. vezenyii
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pheidole exigua Mayr, 1884*
19; 22
Solenopsis tridens Forel, 1911*
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 1
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 2
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 3
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 4
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 5
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 6
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 7†
12
Winkler extractor
Solenopsis sp. 8†
12
Winkler extractor
Solenopsis sp. 9
11; 12
Hand collection
Solenopsis sp. 10†
12
Winkler extractor
Solenopsis sp. 11
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 12
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Solenopsis sp. 13
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Strumigenys crassicornis Mayr, 1887*†
12
Winkler extractor
Strumigenys eggersi Emery, 1890*†
12
Winkler extractor
Strumigenys elongata Roger, 1863
4; 12
Winkler extractor
12
Winkler extractor
12
Winkler extractor
Strumigenys infidelis Santschi, 1919
4
12
Winkler extractor
Strumigenys lilloana (Brown, 1950)
3; 4; 19; 22
Pheidole Westwood, 1839*
Pheidole cardinalis Wilson, 2003**†
19; 22; 23
Solenopsis saevissima (Smith, 1855)
Strumigenys Smith, 1860
Paratrachymyrmex Solomon et al., 2019*
Paratrachymyrmex bugnioni (Forel, 1912)*†
Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804)
Strumigenys hindenburgi Forel, 1915**†
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Strumigenys louisianae Roger, 1863
2; 6
Pheidole fimbriata Roger, 1863*†
12
Hand collection
Strumigenys sp. 1 aff. elongata
12
Winkler extractor
Pheidole fracticeps Wilson, 2003**
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Strumigenys sp. 2 aff. louisianae
12
Winkler extractor
Pheidole geraesensis Santschi, 1929**
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Wasmannia Forel 1893*
Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger, 1863)
12
Epigeic pitfall traps,
Winkler extractor
Pheidole microps Wilson, 2003***†
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pheidole nubila Emery, 1906**
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pheidole obscurithorax Naves, 1985*
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Ponerinae
Pheidole radoszkowskii Mayr, 1884*
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Anochetus Mayr, 1861*
Pheidole subarmata Mayr, 1884*†
12
Winkler extractor
Anochetus neglectus Emery, 1894*†
Pheidole synarmata Wilson 2003*
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Centromyrmex Mayr, 1866
Pheidole valens Wilson, 2003*
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Centromyrmex brachycola (Roger, 1861)
Pheidole cf. caribbaea
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Dinoponera Roger, 1861
Pheidole cf. vallifica
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Dinoponera quadriceps Kempf, 1971
Pheidole gr. aberrans sp. n.
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Hypoponera Santschi, 1938*
Pheidole gr. diligens sp. n.
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pheidole sp. 1 aff. rufipilis†
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pheidole sp. 2 aff. radoszkowskii
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Neoponera Emery, 1901
Pheidole sp. n. 1 (aff. diligens)
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Neoponera bactronica (Fernandes et al., 2014)
Pheidole sp. n. 2 (aff. puttemansi)
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Neoponera commutata (Roger, 1860)
Pheidole sp. n. 3 (aff. triconstricta)
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Odontomachus Latreille, 1804*
Pheidole sp. n. 4
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Odontomachus bauri Emery, 1892*
Pheidole sp. n. 5
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pseudoponera Emery, 1900*
Pheidole sp. n. 6
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pseudoponera gilberti (Kempf, 1960)*†
Pheidole sp. n. 7
12
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pseudomyrmecinae
Procryptocerus Emery, 1887
19; 22
6; 11; 12; 19; 22
Epigeic pitfall traps
Hypoponera sp. 1†
12
Winkler extractor
Hypoponera sp. 2†
12
Winkler extractor
13
6; 21
11; 12
Epigeic pitfall traps
12
Winkler extractor
Pseudomyrmex gr. pallidus sp. 1
11
Hand collection
Pseudomyrmex tenuis (Fabricius, 1804)*†
12
Hand collection
Pseudomyrmex termitarius (Smith, 1855)*
11
Epigeic pitfall traps
Pseudomyrmex Lund, 1831*
Procryptocerus hylaeus Kempf, 1951
3; 20
Procryptocerus victoris Kempf, 1960
3
Rogeria Emery, 1894*
12
Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2020; v.60: e20206014
6/8
to increase our knowledge of the ant fauna in subsampled areas of the Neotropics, especially when involving
multiple collecting techniques.
Regarding the representativity of ants in the different
biomes of Piauí, it is not possible to characterize species
typical of Cerrado or Caatinga, since these species can
be found in both ecosystems and have been classified
as “savanna specialists” (Leal et al., 2017; Vasconcelos
et al., 2017). As for the Atlantic Forest ants, they are represented in our dataset by the specimens obtained from
leaf-litter samples exclusive of our collection efforts in
Parque Nacional da Serra das Confusões (Table 2).
The list of species presented here considerably increases the number of species previously recorded in
the state. From 48 records (AntMaps, 2019), the number
of ant species for Piauí went to 152. Nevertheless, these
numbers are constantly changing as taxonomic works
are published frequently and this process leads to the
documentation of new species (Ward, 2007), as well
as the establishment of local research groups and field
trips. Thus, the list of species presented here is likely to
grow with future collecting and advances in ant studies.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are deeply indebted to Gabriela P. Camacho and
Mila F.O. Martins for the support during fieldwork. Thanks
to Alexandre Casadei Ferreira, Aline Machado Oliveira,
Natalia Ladino, Thiago S.R. da Silva, and Weslly Franco for
identifying our species of Pheidole, Cephalotes, Prionopelta,
Strumigenys, and Gnamptogenys, respectively. We thank
Dr. Christian Rabeling for confirming the new species
belonging to the genus Mycocepurus. We are also grateful to three anonymous reviewers for the valuable comments on a previous version of this work. This study was
funded by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento
Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq (grants 1302462/2016-3
and 128319/2017-8 to RMF and TJ, respectively), and
the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research
(PEER) Science Program (NAS/USAID – award number
AID-OAA-A-11-00012 – project 3-188).
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