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Die Gattung Phormictopuswurde im Jahre 1901 von POCOCK aufgestellt. In seine neue Gattung nahm er als Typusart Mygale cancerides LATREILLE, 1806 von der Insel Hispaniola auf, dazu kam Lasiodora cautus AUSSERER, 1875, eine Art, die ohne Angabe des locus typicus beschrieben worden war. Bisher waren 14 Arten und 2 Unterarten bekannt, von denen 5 aus Südamerika stammen. Die vorliegende Arbeit reduziert die Artenzahl auf 12, wobei 5 neue Arten beschrieben und 4 synonymisiert, 3 zu nomina dubia (Typus verschollen), und 3 "incertae sedis" (in andere Gattungen gehörig) erklärt werden.
Bothriomyrmex enigmaticus sp. nov. is described from the island of Hispañola based on one nest collection. This is the first collection of the genus Bothriomyrmex (Emery, 1869) from the Caribbean region, and the second species to be described from the Americas. While sharing several characters with B. paradoxus (Dubovikoff & Longino, 2004) from Costa Rica and Honduras, B. enigmaticus sp. nov. diverges in several key characters, including palp formula. However, a morphometric comparison to Palearctic species of the tribe Bothriomyrmecini suggests affinities to B. paradoxus, Chronoxenus wroughtoni (Forel, 1895) of the eastern Palearctic, and to a lesser extent an undescribed species of Arnoldius (Dubovikoff, 2005) from Australia and B. corsicus (Santschi,1923) of the western Palearctic.
Glaresis franki Keller and Skelley new species and Glaresis thomasi Keller and Skelley new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Glaresidae) are described and illustrated. They represent the first record of the family for the West Indies. Both species are placed into the phoenicis species group. A key to the two West Indies species is presented.
Four species of mole crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) are known from the West Indies: Neocurtilla hexadactyla (Perty), Scapteriscus abbreviatus Scudder, S. didactylus (Latreille), and S. imitatus Nickle and Castner. All are adventive (not native). We document their distributions in West Indian islands/countries by use of records from the literature and examination of specimens. Scapteriscus abbreviatus has been suggested to have arrived in, and been transported about the West Indies in ship ballast (immigration). Based on records of arrival in various parts of the West Indies and the species’ inability to fly, this suggestion seems reasonable. Scapteriscus imitatus pparently was released in Puerto Rico as a result of mistaken identification (introduction – arriving with assistance from humans – although inadvertent), and has not expanded its range in the West Indies. Although the principal mode of dispersal for the other two species also has been suggested to be ship ballast, we present an alternative based on flight which would seem at least equally as plausible. We suggest that S. didactylus could have dispersed by flight from South America through the Lesser Antilles; likewise N. hexadactyla probably from the Yucatan Peninsula to Cuba, and from South America northward through the Lesser Antilles, in at least some localities assisted by wind. Our zoogeographical alternative, if correct, means that the natural range expansions of these latter two species began very long ago and without human assistance – they were not introduced recently to the West Indies.