Description of the Ergatoid Queen of Pogonomyrmex Mayri With Notes on the Worker and Male (Hym., Formicidae)

During a recent stay in Santa Marta on the north coast of Colotnbia, I had the opportunity to study Pogonomyrmex mayri, the sole tnetnber of the subgenus Forelomyrmex, whose entire range is the desert and dry deciduous forest below 200 tn. on the northwestern, western, and possibly southern skirts of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This ant was described by Forel (1899: 61-62, footnote) from worker(s) and tnale(s) he collected. Neither he nor subsequent entotnologists, including P. J. Darlington, found fetnales. The reason fetnales were unknown became clear as I worked in the area and later began to look at the biology of P. mayri tnore closely. Though I collected tnales frotn vegetation nearly year around (3 Sept. to 30 June), no winged fetnales were seen in two years. Furthermore, only after thoroughly excavating 10 nests were any fetnales found at all, one in each of 2 nests dug by tny coworker, Maria del Cartnen Hincapi6, and her assistant. Both were ergatoid nest queens. This paper presents a fortnal description of those queens, notes on the worker and male suppletnenting Forel’s original description, and a discussion of the taxonotnic status of Pogonomyrmex mayri. Notes on the biology of P. mayri will be reported later.