Dolichoderinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Images of worker (click here)
Images of male (click here)
Range
Costa Rica: Atlantic slope.
Identification
There is only one species in the genus known from the Americas. Similar dolichoderine genera in Costa Rica are Azteca and Tapinoma. Workers of Bothriomyrmex can be distinguished from Azteca by the shape of the propodeum. The dorsal face is much shorter than the posterior face, giving the mesosoma a compact appearance; in Azteca the dorsal face is longer than the posterior face and the mesosoma appears more elongate. Bothriomyrmex differs from Tapinoma in having a distinct, scale-like petiolar node. In the field, workers are superficially similar to some Brachymyrmex.
Natural History
This is the first report of this genus in the Americas, and it is known from a single colony. Collections were made from this colony in February and April of this year, during the Project ALAS expeditions to the 500m site on the Volcan Barva transect. The expeditions were based at the "El Ceibo" guard station, on the west bank of the Rio Peje. The station building itself is in pasture abutting mature rainforest. A few meters inside the forest a large tree had fallen sometime during the months prior to the expeditions. A few of the tree's leaves were still green; most were brown but still attached to branches. There were still extensive epiphyte mats covering the trunk and major branches.
I collected from beneath these mats in February. Bothriomyrmex workers and brood piles were abundant beneath most of the mats. Large Margarodidae were also scattered amongst the Bothriomyrmex. Other ant species occurred under the mats and were somewhat interdigitated with the Bothriomyrmex, although much less abundant. These included Hypoponera opacior, a small yellow Solenopsis, and Tapinoma. Smaller nests or aggregations were also found of Crematogaster sotobosque and Pheidole biconstricta. One part of the tree, near the pasture edge, was being invaded by Solenopsis geminata.
I found only workers and brood. Ronald Vargas of Project ALAS collected more from the same tree in April. His collections included two adult males.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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