Heteroponera dolo (Roger, 1860)

Heteroponera dolo (Roger, 1860) View in CoL

Species of Heteroponera are found in the Neotropical and Australian regions. However, the highest richness for the genus is found in Brazil, specifically in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Members of this genus are predominantly predators, but occasionally feed on plant exudates.Most species nest on the ground, mainly on rotten logs, and the colonies are relatively small, containing a few dozen individuals ( Feitosa and Prada-Achiardi, 2019).

Heteroponera dolo View in CoL is the most common species of the genus, occurring in wet forests from southern Brazil to northern Argentina. Although coloration inHeteroponera species can vary from black ( H. carinifrons Mayr,1887 View in CoL ) to pale yellow ( H.flava, Kempf, 1962 View in CoL ), intraspecific variations in coloration were unknown until now. Females of H. dolo View in CoL tend to be entirely yellow ( Fig. 1 View Figure 1 A-C) and the males are black. However, during the exam of specimens deposited in the CPDC,one of us (RMF) found a series of six dark workers collected in 2002 on the soil of a fragment of Atlantic Forest in the municipality of Viçosa, Minas Gerais state. These workers are entirely black, with a golden pubescence on the gaster and iridescent reflects throughout the body, resembling some species of the Australian genus Rhytidoponera ( Feitosa, 2011) View in CoL .

At first, it was suspected that the series of melanic workers collected in Viçosa could represent a new species, but, except for the coloration, all the other morphological characters analyzed were entirely compatible with the diagnosis of H. dolo ( Feitosa, 2011) View in CoL . Diagnostic characters easily separate Heteroponera dolo View in CoL from most species of the genus. The closest species is certainly H. robusta Kempf, 1972 View in CoL , from which H. dolo View in CoL can be quickly separated by its slightly smaller size and smooth and shiny mandibles (striated in H. robusta View in CoL ). Except for the dark series recorded here, no other aberrant forms were recorded for H. dolo View in CoL or any other species of Heteroponerini View in CoL (Rodrigo Feitosa, pers. obs).