Brachymyrmex heeri Forel, 1874

Brachymyrmex heeri is a shiny yellow to brown small, soft-bodied, nondescript species approximately 1.2–2 mm in length. It lives in polygynous colonies, occupies shallow nests often located in disturbed habitats, and has successfully established populations outside its native range. The species is native to the Neotropics, but was originally described from Zurich, Switzerland (Forel, 1874;1876). They where they were found in abundance on greenhouse orchids in tropical botanical garden, but the population was gone (possibly replaced by Plagiolepis) by 1904 (Santschi, 1923). Brachymyrmex heeri is a widespread across Central America, South America and the Caribbean (Kempf, 1972). It was also recently reported from the Galapagos Islands, where they were found in association with introduced hemipteran Icerya purchasi Maskell, and in the agricultural zone of San Cristóbal (Herrera & Longino, 2008). It is not clear the extent to which B. heeri is native (versus introduced) to many of the Caribbean islands (Wetterer & Wetterer, 2004). Thus far there have been no confirmed reports of the species establishing in the United States, but it has been intercepted at a Texas port of entry (Christopher Wilson, pers. comm.). In addition to Forel’s original description from Switzerland, the species has been reported from Germany, France and the Ukraine (Rasplus et al., 2010).