Formicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
|
|
|
|
|
|
Additional images: minor worker, dorsal view of mesosoma (reduced, original).
Range
Guatemala to Brazil. Costa Rica: northern Pacific lowlands (one record from Atlantic coast).
Identification
Minor worker: Propodeum lacking spines or tubercles of any kind; propodeum somewhat box-like, dorsal and lateral faces flat or nearly flat and meeting at an approximate right angle; dorsal face of propodeum subrectangular; pubescence on first gastral tergite dilute, appressed to suberect, not obscuring integument; color uniformly orange; integument generally mat; erect setae sparse, short, stiff.
Natural History
This species is a very common and conspicuous ant in the dry lowlands of northwest Costa Rica, south to Carara Biological Reserve, and as high as 900m elevation on the road to Monteverde. The bright orange workers are common diurnal foragers on low vegetation and treetrunks. They are common in xeric and synanthropic habitats. I usually find nests in dead branches and stems in low vegetation. A dry xeric ridge near Playa Naranjo in Santa Rosa National Park had many bulbous-based Tillandsia on the branches of low shrubs, and I found several C. rectangularis nests in these epiphytes. Several times I have found lone foundress queens in dead stems, suggesting monogynous claustral founding.
I have one Atlantic side collection. I was collecting along the beach margin at the Casa Verde turtle research station in Tortuguero, and I found a nest in a dead vine stem.
Type Data
Notes
Literature Cited
Emery, C. 1890. Studii sulle formiche della fauna neotropica. Bull. Soc. Entomol. Ital. 22:38-80.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
Go back to top
