A globally integrated structure of taxonomy to support biodiversity science and conservation.

All aspects of biodiversity research, from taxonomy to conservation, rely on data associated with species names. Effective integration of names across multiple fields is paramount and depends on the coordination and organization of taxonomic data. We assess current efforts and find that even key applications for well-studied taxa still lack commonality in taxonomic information required for integration.

Six decades of museum collections reveal disruption of native ant assemblages by introduced species.

There is a looming environmental crisis characterized by widespread declines in global biodiversity, coupled with the establishment of introduced species at accelerated rates. We quantified how multi-species invasions affect litter ant communities in natural ecosystems by leveraging museum records and contemporary collections to assemble a large (18,990 occurrences, 6,483 sampled local communities, and 177 species) 54-year (1965-2019) dataset for the entire state of Florida, USA. Nine of ten species that decreased most strongly in relative abundance ("losers") were native, while nine of the top ten "winners" were introduced species.

The ant genus Strumigenys Smith, 1860 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in western North America North of Mexico.

Strumigenys is a globally distributed genus of mostly cryptic leaf-litter ants. In North America they are common throughout eastern deciduous forests but become increasingly rare to the west. Here I review the Strumigenys fauna of western North America north of the Mexico border including all states west of the eastern border of Texas.

A new species group of (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Ecuador, with a description of its mandible morphology.

is one of the most diverse ant genera in the world and arguably the most morphologically diverse, exhibiting an exceptional range of mandible shape and function. A new species, , discovered in the Chocó region of Ecuador is described. With two morphological characters, this species is shown to be a morphologically unique outlier among globally, having predominately smooth and shining cuticle surface sculpturing and long trap-jaw mandibles.

Functional innovation promotes diversification of form in the evolution of an ultrafast trap-jaw mechanism in ants.

Evolutionary innovations underlie the rise of diversity and complexity-the 2 long-term trends in the history of life. How does natural selection redesign multiple interacting parts to achieve a new emergent function? We investigated the evolution of a biomechanical innovation, the latch-spring mechanism of trap-jaw ants, to address 2 outstanding evolutionary problems: how form and function change in a system during the evolution of new complex traits, and whether such innovations and the diversity they beget are repeatable in time and space. Using a new phylogenetic reconstruction of 470 species, and X-ray microtomography and high-speed videography of representative taxa, we found the trap-jaw mechanism evolved independently 7 to 10 times in a single ant genus (Strumigenys), resulting in the repeated evolution of diverse forms on different continents.

A taxonomic revision of the Strumigenys nitens and simulans groups (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), two Caribbean radiations of leaf litter ants.

In this study, we revise two groups of cryptic leaf litter ants, the Strumigenys nitens and Strumigenys simulans species groups. These two groups are restricted to the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. We redefine the species groups, provide a key for the five species in the S.

Taxonomic clarification of two Nearctic Strumigenys (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

In 1901, Forel described an ant species from a relatively poorly known genus of ants from North America, naming it Strumigenys pilinasis. In 1931 M. R.