Forelius mccooki (McCook)

Subfamily DOLICHODERINAE Tribe DOLICHODERINI Forelius mccooki (McCook)

Forelius mccooki, profile view of worker (click image to enlarge).	Forelius mccooki, profile view of worker. (click image to enlarge).

Forelius mccooki, profile view of alate queen (click image to enlarge).	Forelius mccooki, profile view of male (click image to enlarge).

Forelius mccooki, full face view of worker (click image to enlarge).	Forelius mccooki, profile view of worker showing head, alitrunk and petiole. (click image to enlarge).
Forelius mccooki is very common in open habitats. They are active during the day and it is not unusual to find them in the presence of the imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta, S. richteri, and their hybrid), Pheidole bicarinata, and Monomorium minimum. At this time the Forelius situation in the southeastern United States is somewhat confusing and I am not sure anybody really knows what is going on at this time. Most references mention both F. analis and F. mccooki as being western species, however F. analis has been recorded from both AL and MS (historic records). At one time in the not so distant past, F. analis was considered a subspecies of F. pruinosus (Bolton 1995). Most recently, Ward (2005) sunk F. analis into F. pruinosus, so now at least we don't have to deal with that problem. Nevertheless, most specimens in both MS and AL look a lot like F. mccooki, rather than F. pruinosus, which is recorded from both AL and MS . In addition to these problems, there is apparently a new species present in FL (per. comm. Lloyd Davis) and GA. Basically, at this time it looks like there are 3 species found in the Southeast (unless there is another undescribed species thrown in there, or if the F. mccooki form found in this region is actually a new and different species from the western form): F. mccooki, F. pruinosus, and F. new sp. Forelius pruinosus, strictly a sand inhabiting ant, is apparently a good species, and is dark-grayish colored and has very few erect hairs on the body and none on the scapes and legs. This species appears to be found only in areas of deep sand. The new species, also a sand inhabiting species, and also grayish colored, differs from the other species in that it is extremely hairy in appearance with erect hairs covering much of the body including the legs and scapes. Forelius mccooki seem to fall somewhere between those two species and has fewer erect hairs on the body than the new species (but more than F. pruinosus) and few to no erect hairs on the scapes. Links AntWeb Discover Life Images