Formicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Additional images: major worker, lateral view of head (reduced, original), anterior view clypeus, showing head truncation (reduced, original).
Range
Costa Rica: northern Pacific lowlands.
Identification
Minor worker: propodeum very narrow, in cross section tectiform (tent-like, like an inverted "V"), without a distinct angle separating lateral and dorsal faces; WL of typical minor workers around 1.7mm; in lateral profile dorsal face of propodeum curves into posterior face; body concolorous yellow; in lateral view, clypeus flat.
Major worker: head strongly phragmotic, anterior face truncate, flat, sharply differentiated from dorsal face, clypeus entirely contained in anterior truncation.
Similar species: claviscapus.
Natural History
I know this species from dry forest habitats below 500m elevation (Santa Rosa, Finca La Pacifica, Curu). I have only collected it by discovering nests. This, and the light color of the workers, suggests nocturnal foraging. I have seen nests six times in Costa Rica, and they have all been in dead wood or dead stems. Five were in 1-2cm diameter dead stems, and one was narrow galleries in a larger piece of hard, dry, dead wood. They always seem to be in relatively hard stems. With their strongly phragmotic major workers, they probably establish durable and relatively long-lasting nest sites.
Type Data
Notes
Literature Cited
Emery, C. 1896. Studi sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. XVII-XXV. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 28:33-107.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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