Smithistruma margaritae (Forel 1893)

Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia

John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. longinoj@evergreen.edu

4 March 1997

Identification

Color red-brown; 6-segmented antenna; face punctate; sides of posterior half of mesosoma completely and densely punctulate; ventral petiolar spongiform appendages entirely obsolete; gaster with more than 10 erect, somewhat spoon-shaped setae; propodeal teeth slender and acutely tapered, their infradental lamellae obsolete and represented only by fine carinae; basal tergite of gaster finely striolate-punctulate over entire surface, with no or very short coarse striae at postpetiolar insertion.

Geography

Southern U.S. to Guianas. Costa Rica: open, disturbed habitats in Pacific lowlands.

Natural History

Inhabits open disturbed habitats. Forages on low vegetation. Known to visit extrafloral nectaries. Presumed predaceous.

How to collect

I rarely encounter this species. I have not obtained it by sifting litter. In a study of ant visitors to extrafloral nectaries of Passiflora pittieri at Sirena, Corcovado National Park, I observed ants on thousands of shoots on hundreds of plants. Among these observations, I observed margaritae only twice, both times on shoots of one plant. Sweeping scrubby roadside vegetation along the road to Monteverde (120m, La Pita) yielded specimens.

Page author: John T. Longino longinoj@evergreen.edu

Last modified: 03/04/1997