Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. longinoj@evergreen.edu
25 July 1997
Identification
Differs from lanuginosa in having a second preapical tooth on mandible; smaller eyes composed of fewer than 10 facets; basal costae of gaster coarse rather than fine; smaller size and relatively shorter mandibles.
Head length 0.556mm, mandible length 0.314, head width 0.448, CI 81, MI 56 (n=1).
Range
Brazil (type locality), Costa Rica (Atlantic lowlands).
Natural History
Brown and Wilson (1959) summarize the genus as follows:
"Widespread in tropics and warm temperate areas. Primarily forest-dwelling; some species occur in grassland and arid scrub. ... Nests mostly in soil and rotting wood; a few species live in arboreal plant cavities in tropical rain forest. Foraging hypogaeic to epigaeic-arboreal. Food: most species are collembolan feeders; a few are polyphagous predators or occasionally feed on sugary substances..."
cosmostela occurs in lowland wet forest, in leaf litter/soil on the forest floor.
Selected Records
La Selva: two Berlese samples from litter/soil cores.
Literature Cited
Brown, W. L., Jr., Wilson, E. O. 1959. The evolution of the dacetine ants. Quarterly Review of Biology 34:278-294.
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