Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
See image of boliviensis for general habitus of Probolomyrmex.
Range
Costa Rica.
Identification
Sculpture fine and densely set; first gastral segment ventrally without a collar; head with a bulge along the posterior ventral face, which, in lateral view is not darker than the adjacent surface. Measurements of holotype worker: HL 0.65, HW 0.39, SL 0.41, CI 0.60, SI 106. Contrast with boliviensis.
Natural History
This species is known from a single collection from Costa Rica, comprising a worker and an ergatoid queen, and described as a new species by O'Keefe and Agosti (1997). The habitat was riparian forest in a region of tropical dry forest vegetation. The specimens were obtained from sifted leaf litter from the forest floor.
This was the first record of an ergatoid queen in the genus.
Taylor (1965) observed a captive colony of P. boliviensis; his observations, which may be applicable to other species in the genus, are available on the boliviensis page.
Type Data
Probolomyrmex guanacastensis O'Keefe and Agosti 1997:191. Holotype worker and paratype ergatoid queen: Costa Rica, Guanacaste Province, 8.5km NW Bagaces, 10¡35'N, 85¡18'W, riparian forest, 31 Jul 1996 (coll. S. O'Keefe) [INBio].
Literature Cited
O'Keefe, S. T., and D. Agosti. 1997. A new species of Probolomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Guanacaste, Costa Rica. J. New York Ent. Soc. 105:190-192.
Taylor, R. W. 1965. A monographic revision of the rare tropicopolitan ant genus Probolomyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. Lond. 117:345-365.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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