Attini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Range
Costa Rica (type locality).
Identification
Metanotum lacking longitudinal carinae; anterior margin of clypeus convex, with thin fringe of smooth cuticle; mesosoma length 1.2-1.3mm; lateral margins of frontal lobes strongly triangular in face view; dorsal face of propodeum with pair of longitudinal carinae; propodeal spiracles somewhat projecting.
Natural History
Apterostigma goniodes is widespread in wet forest habitats of Costa Rica. I have collected the species at Wilson Botanical Garden in the Talamanca range, Carara Biological Reserve, Estacion Pitilla in Guanacaste Conservation Area, the Pe–as Blancas Valley east of Monteverde, La Selva Biological Station, and the Barva transect at 1100m in Braulio Carrillo National Park. All of my collections have been from Winkler samples of sifted litter from the forest floor; I have never seen a nest. At the 1100m site on the Barva transect it was relatively frequent in Malaise traps and Winkler samples.
Comments
Lattke (1997) gave holotype locality data as "Costa Rica, Heredia, La Selva, 1500-1700 m, 9-VI-1974, Talbot y Van Devender," deposited at LACM. He commented that this was a relatively high elevation for the genus and that it must be a montane species. This must have been a misinterpretation of the label, because La Selva is a lowland site between 50 and 150m elevation.
Literature Cited
Lattke, J. E. 1997. Revisi—n del gˇnero Apterostigma Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arq. Zool. (S‹o Paulo) 34:121-221.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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