Data from: A new ant genus from the Greater Antilles and Central America, Zatania (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), exemplifies the utility of male and molecular character systems

The ant genus Prenolepis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is the nominal member of the recently established Prenolepis genus-group within the subfamily Formicinae. Our molecular phylogenetic analyses using fragments from six genes (CAD, elongation factor 1-α F1, elongation factor 1-α F2, wingless, arginine kinase, and cytochrome oxidase) discovered that this genus is polyphyletic. While the majority of Prenolepis species were found to belong to the same monophyletic group (Prenolepis, sensu stricto), a smaller subset of Prenolepis species, all found in either Central America or the Greater Antilles, were robustly inferred to comprise a distinct lineage that is sister to the Old World genus Paraparatrechina. Here we describe this newly discovered lineage within the larger Prenolepis genus-group clade. The genus Zatania, gen. nov., is comprised of five extant species (albimaculata, cisipa, gibberosa, gloriosa, sp. nov., and karstica) and one Dominican amber fossil species (electra, sp. nov.). These are medium sized ants (generally between 2.5-3 mm in total length) that are characterized by having long scapes and legs and elongated mesosomata. A reliance on worker-based taxonomy has previously prevented the discovery of this new lineage due to worker convergence consisting of various combinations of elongated mesosomata, long scapes and legs, and a constriction immediately behind the pronotum, observed in several distinct lineages within the Prenolepis genus-group. However, we did find that male morphology complements our molecular results in revealing important diagnostic and potentially phylogenetically informative. Our study highlights the value for ant systematics to expand beyond its traditional foundation of worker-based morphology and embrace character systems from other castes and molecular data.