Attini, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Range
Guatemala (type locality), Costa Rica. Costa Rica: Atlantic slope to 1100m elevation.
Identification
Mandibles with 5 teeth; preocular carina curving mesad toward frontal carina; antennal scrobe poorly defined; lateral vertex margins forming acute teeth that project posteriorly; propodeum lacking spines.
Natural History
This species occurs in wet forest. It appears to be a specialist inhabitant of mature forest canopy. Almost all of my collections have been from nests beneath epiphyte mats or strays in recent treefalls. This behavior extends to Venezuela, where I also collected it beneath epiphytes in a treefall. I have never collected it in Winkler samples or other sampling methods that focus on the ground fauna.
Comments
In Costa Rica, C. major has an allopatric or parapatric distribution with C. dixus, a Pacific slope species with similar morphology and nesting habits.
Literature Cited
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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