Phylogenomic species delimitation, taxonomy, and "bird guide" identification for the Neotropical ant genus Rasopone (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Rasopone Schmidt & Shattuck is a poorly known lineage of ants that
live in Neotropical forests. Informed by phylogenetic results from
thousands of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and mitochondrial DNA
barcodes, we revise the genus, providing a new morphological diagnosis and
a species-level treatment. Analysis of UCE data from many Rasopone samples
and select outgroups revealed non-monophyly of the genus. Monophyly of
Rasopone was restored by transferring several species to the unrelated
genus Mayaponera Schmidt & Shattuck. Within Rasopone, species are
morphologically very similar, and we provide a "bird guide"
approach to identification rather than the traditional dichotomous key.
Species are arranged by size in a table, along with geographic range and
standard images. Additional diagnostic information is then provided in
individual species accounts. We recognize a total of 15 named species, of
which the following are described as new species: R. costaricensis, R.
cryptergates, R. cubitalis, R. guatemalensis, R. mesoamericana, R.
pluviselva, R. politognatha, R. subcubitalis, and R. titanis. An
additional 12 morphospecies are described but not formally named due to
insufficient material. Rasopone panamensis (Forel, 1899) is removed from
synonymy and elevated to species. The following species are removed from
Rasopone and made new combinations in Mayaponera: M. arhuaca (Forel,
1901), M. becculata (Mackay & Mackay, 2010), M. cernua (Mackay
& Mackay, 2010), M. conicula (Mackay & Mackay, 2010), M.
longidentata (Mackay & Mackay, 2010), and M. pergandei (Forel,
1909).