Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
Range
Guatemala to Venezuela and southern Peru. Costa Rica: widespread, Atlantic and Pacific slope, wet and moist forests.
Identification
Mesosomal dorsum with erect hairs; opening of propodeal spiracle viewed perpendicularly slit-shaped, more than twice as long as wide; mandible with approximately 13 teeth; dorsal outline of mesosoma interrupted by a distinct, impressed propodeal groove, so that the mesonotum forms a convexity separate from the more or less convex propodeal dorsum; in full-face view, a line drawn through the centers of the eyes falls near head mid-head, crossing near posterior limits of frontal carinae; cheeks with a distinct carina reaching from clypeal wing to eye margin; anterior face of petiolar node perpendicular, forming an angular anterodorsal summit; sides and posterior face of petiole smooth, not rugulose; head width including eyes usually greater than 2.2mm, width of pronotum greater than 1.55mm; anterior face of petiole concave (flat in villosa).
Similar species: bugabensis, insignis, theresiae, villosa.
Natural History
This species occurs in wet to moist forest habitats, from sea-level to mid-montane forests around 1200m. I have collected it mainly as isolated foragers, but I did find a small nest in a dead knot on a recently felled tree. Mackay and Mackay (2010) also report small nests in cavities.
Type Data
Pachycondyla villosa r. curvinodis Forel 1899:15. Syntype worker: Guatemala. Raised to species by Mackay and Mackay (2010).
Literature Cited
Mackay, W. P., and E. E. Mackay 2010. The Systematics and Biology of the New World Ants of the Genus Pachycondyla (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Edwin Mellon Press, Lewiston.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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