Strumigenys marginiventris Santschi 1931
Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505
USA.
longinoj@evergreen.edu
21 April 1997
Specimen: Colombia, Magdalena: Canaveral, 200m, 11deg19'N 73deg56'W (J. Longino 708-s). Image by J. Longino.
Identification
Apical fork of mandible without intercalary teeth; mandible with one strong preapical tooth; dorsum of gaster with raised lateral margins; gaster punctulate-striolate, opaque; gaster with long flagelliform setae.
Head length 0.68-0.73mm, mandible length 0.51-0.57, CI 78-82, MI 75-79 (n=11 workers from 3 localities; Brown 1962).
Similar species: longispinosa.
Range
Costa Rica (southern Pacific lowlands) to northern Colombia.
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Specimen: Colombia, Magdalena: Canaveral, 200m, 11deg19'N 73deg56'W (J. Longino 708-s). Image by J. Longino. line drawing of worker face (from Brown 1958) |
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..."
Regarding the species marginiventris, Brown (1962) states
"Nests in the soil, often in paths or other openings, in rain forest or plantations, and the workers forage over the open ground among leaves or herbs by day as well as night. Common on Barro Colorado Island [Panama]"
I have never encountered this species in Winkler samples from Costa Rica. My collecting is biased toward closed canopy mature forest, where there is a litter layer. This supports Brown's observations that this species prefers open areas and synanthropic habitats.
Selected Records
Palmar: in soil of banana plantation, several collections (as reported in Brown 1962, Strumigenys review).
Literature Cited
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1958 (1957). The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: Group of marginiventris Santschi. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 65:123-128.
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1962. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: Synopsis and keys to the species. Psyche 69:238-267.
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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