Neivamyrmex leonardi (W. M. Wheeler, 1915)

Eciton (Acamatus) leonardi Wheeler, 1915:392; o.
Eciton (Acamatus) peninsulare Mann, 1926:98; o.
Eciton (Neivamyrmex) leonardi: M. Smith, 1942:570; o. Creighton, 1950:72; o.
Eciton (Neivamyrmex) peninsulare: Borgmeier, 1949:101; o.
Neivamyrmex leonardi: Borgmeier, 1955:431-434; pl 25, fig. 6; o. Watkins, 1971:101-103; figs. 1?7; o. Wheeler and Wheeler, 1973:38; o. Watkins, 1976:13, 18: map 56; o. Cokendolpher and Francke, 1990:11.


TYPE LOCALITY: USA California San Diego County Point Loma

TYPES: Cotype MCZC

Range: UNITED STATES: Arizona, Calif. Oklahoma, Texas, MEXICO;

Habitat: Creosote Scrub Desert, Sage Scrub, Chaparral

United States Records: Map 22

Material examined

Chaparral

CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Co.: Santa Monica Mtns. Stunt Ranch 410m 34° 06'N 118° 39'W (P. Nonacs; LACM, UCDC), Riverside Co.: Deep Cyn. 5200' 27 April 1969 (G.C. & J. Wheeler),

Sage Scrub Desert

CALIFORNIA: Inyo Co.: Saline Valley Rd., 1.7 mi. W Grapevine Cyn. Rd. 36° 30.7" N 117° 33.3" W 27 May 1994 (G.C. & R. R. Snelling; GCSC, CUIC, LACM, UCDC), 2 km ESE Furnace Creek Inn, Death Valley Natl. Pk. 36° 26'N 116° 50'W 100m 28 March 1998 ex Solenopsis xyloni middens (P. S. Ward #13531-1; UCDC),

Creosote Scrub Desert

ARIZONA: Pima Co.: Tucson Prince Rd. Farm 22 April 1965 (F. Werner & G. Butler; U. of A.), Santa Cruz.: Nogales 9 Dec.1947 (LACM),

CALIFORNIA: Inyo Co.: 9 mi. Cyn. 3400' 35.85° N 117.90° W 19 June 1969 (R. R. Snelling; LACM), 7 mi. S. Little Lake 17 June 1969 (RRS 69-227 LACM), San Bernardino Co.: "Barstow Fossil Beds" (J. F. Watkins; LACM)), 4 mi. NNW Adelanto 18 Sept. 1978 (R. R. Snelling & C. D. George; 78-87 LACM), Riverside Co.: Deep Cyn. 1300' "Riparian" 20-27 June 1969: (S. Frommer, D. Bixler, L. LaPre; UCRC), TEXAS: Mclennan Co.: 23 April 1965, 24 June 1967, 10 June 1968. Bosque Co.: 15 April 1967

NEVADA: Churchill Co.: Sand Springs Dune 1200m 39°17'N 118°25' W , Lyon Co.: Weeks 1280m 39°18' N, 119°15'W (P. S. Ward; UCDC),

MEXICO: Guerrero 29 km NE Fila de Caballo 26 May 1989 # 11438 (W. P Mackay; WPMC, GCSC),

DISCUSSION.

        This is a very poorly known ant. The synonymous form N. peninsulare was described from a few workers taken under a stone. Watkins (1971) also reported finding it under a stone in Texas and "...observed a few workers...in a weak nocturnal raiding column of N. opacithorax..." Our specimens from 9-mile Canyon were found in soft sand at a depth of about 45 cm. This was in Sagebrush Desert with some intermixed Larrea. This ant has also been collected from Creosote Bush Scrub-Joshua Tree Woodland. In the chaparral biome of Deep Canyon, Wheeler and Wheeler (1973) found a nest under a slightly buried stone.
       The female and male forms are unknown; however based on range data we feel that N. minor is probably the male form of N. leonardi

ASSOCIATED ARTHROPODS.

        Mann (1924) described the staphylinid beetle Pulicomorpha coecum from specimens collected with a colony of N. leonardi (as Eciton peninsularis Mann) in Baja California Sur, Mexico.