Student 10-Minute Presentation
Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity
Student
Student Competition
Megan E. DuVal (she/her/hers)
Undergraduate
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Rodolfo S. Probst
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
John T. Longino (he/him/his)
Professor
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
The Eciton genus group comprises the New World army ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), keystone predators in tropical and subtropical environments. The generic boundaries in the group have been considered stable for nearly 100 years. One of its members, the genus Labidus, is wide-ranging with a broad dietary niche and often high local abundance. The genus Neivamyrmex, although less conspicuous, is the most diverse and wide-ranging New World army ant genus. Within these genera, species are currently recognized based on the morphology of workers and/or males, with a history of parallel taxonomy where many male-based species remain to be associated with their respective worker-based species. Neivamyrmex workers have been distinguished from all other New World army ant genera by their untoothed tarsal claws. Workers of Labidus and other genera have tarsal claws with an additional tooth.
Here, we construct a phylogeny using ultraconserved elements to show that the little-known Labidus mars is a Neivamyrmex. It strongly resembles a Neivamyrmex in all but its toothed tarsal claws, but the overreliance on this character obscured evidence of other characters. In addition, a species based on males, L. nero, had been synonymized under Labidus mars based on geographic co-occurrence alone, and another male-based taxon, L. mars denticulatus, was a subspecies (originally of L. nero). Both these taxa are placed within Labidus based on morphology and UCE results and will be separated from L. mars. This serves as a cautionary tale when using a single character, even if highly distinct, to define boundaries within taxa.