Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
Range
Costa Rica (Atlantic lowlands).
Identification
Mandible somewhat bowed; apical fork of mandible without intercalary tooth; mandible with long, spiniform preapical tooth about one quarter distance from apical fork to mandible base; minute denticle variably present one half to two thirds distance to mandible base; eyes composed of 1-4 facets; gaster smooth with strong basal costulae; gaster with erect setae filiform to weakly thickened; leading edge of scape at the subbasal bend lacks a lamella; spiniform preapical tooth of mandible occurs closer to the apicodorsal tooth than to the proximal denticle. Also see Bolton (2000:556).
Head width 0.41mm, head length 0.53, mandible length 0.30, CI 77, MI 57 (n=1 specimen from La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica).
This species is extremely similar to calamita, differing primarily in the filiform rather than spatulate setae on the gaster, and to nastata, differing in the lack of a lamella on the scape, and the preapical tooth character described above.
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..."
Members of the genus are all predaceous, with a kinetic mode of attack (Bolton 1999).
This species occurs in lowland wet forest, in leaf litter on the forest floor.
Selected Records
Winkler and/or Berlese samples from La Selva Biological Station.
Literature Cited
Bolton, B. 1999. Ant genera of the tribe Dacetonini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Nat. Hist. 33:1639-1689.
Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini, with a revision of the Strumigenys species of the Malagasy Region by Brian L. Fisher, and a revision of the Austral epopostrumiform genera by Steven O. Shattuck. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65:1-1028.
Brown, W. L., Jr., Wilson, E. O. 1959. The evolution of the dacetine ants. Quarterly Review of Biology 34:278-294.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
Go back to top