Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
Range
Costa Rica (southern Pacific lowlands).
Identification
Very similar to calamita and perdita, but leading edge of scape at the subbasal bend with a lamella; spiniform preapical tooth of mandible occurs about midway between the apicodorsal tooth and the proximal denticle. In calamita and perdita, 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 (Bolton 2000:554).
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 sample from Osa Peninsula, Rancho Quemado.
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
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