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Ants (Formicidae) in Mexico have been usually undersampled despite their ecological significance and their utility as service providers and bioindicators. This study estimates the species richness and the narrow endemic species number of ants across Mexico. It also documents the presence of one species newly recorded in Mexico and 19 new state-based records of 14 species from central and north Mexico. No surveys have been performed in most of the localities where we report those records, suggesting the need of a higher sampling effort in the country.We present an ant species richness estimation in a grid of 0.5 degrees in Mexico and a narrow endemic ant species estimation. Stenamma schmitii is reported for the first time from Mexico. Additionally, the new state-based records of Azteca velox, Dorymyrmex insanus, Camponotus coruscus, Camponotus striatus, Formica propatula, Lasius latipes, Neivamyrmex melanocephalus, Neivamyrmex rugulosus, Syscia augustae, Atta texana, Cephalotes scutulatus, Crematogaster crinosa and Temnothorax andrei are reported.

ABSTRACT - The role of urban ecosystems in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services is highly variable because of the heterogeneity of habitats in human-use landscapes. We analyzed ant diversity in a sub-montane and sub-tropical urban area of northeastern Mexico to determine the conservation value of this cityscape. Ants were collected in 16 across the cityscape, including spaces at the periphery and urban center, during the rainy season (August to October) of 2015. To capture ants, eight trap traps were installed along a 100-m transect, and hand collections were performed. In total, 7,415 ant workers belonging to 32 species, 23 genera, 11 tribes, and 5 sub-families were collected. The richness and structure of the assemblages varied among the sampling sites. The compositional similarity also varied significantly among sampling sites, and unique species were found in four sites. Each site showed an important and particular ant assemblage that differed from that of the other sites and the surrounding habitats in the cityscape. The results suggest that some sampling sites in the studied cityscape may contribute to the conservation of certain ant groups and invertebrate communities threatened by urban intensification. Ultimately, our findings support the importance of conserved areas and green spaces for the conservation of native species in and near urban areas.

Anthropogenic disturbance, primarily driven by land-use changes, has caused alterations in ecosystems and biodiversity, including the ant community. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the current landscape of ant species richness and distribution in environments with varying degrees of disturbance in Mexico. Additionally, we sought to identify ant species of ecological, economic and health significance within the country.The present study shows that Mexico has a total of 33,286 records of 1,104 ant species belonging to 10 subfamilies. These species were recorded in a wide variety of environments with different levels of human impact. It was observed that both highly-disturbed environments and undisturbed environments had the highest number of ant records. In undisturbed environments, greater species richness was recorded, with a total of 704 species. Furthermore, the most representative ant species for the country were identified in ecological, economic and human health contexts. Within these species, a group composed of four exotic species (Tapinoma melanocephalum, Paratrechina longicornis, Wasmannia auropunctata and Linepithema humile) deserves special attention, as they have achieved extensive dispersion throughout the country and have been associated with negative impacts in ecological, economic and human health realms.