Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
Range
Costa Rica: Mid-elevation Atlantic slope.
Identification
Worker: first gastral tergum with abundant erect setae; metanotal groove impressed, such that dorsal face of propodeum forms a separate plane relative to convex promesonotum; Weber's length about 1.0mm.
Similar species: scrobiculatus, grandis.
Natural History
Ronald Vargas found a worker and a queen beneath a treefern trunk, during expeditions to the 1100m site on the Barva Transect, an area of mature wet forest in Braulio Carrillo National Park. A worker was collected in a Winkler sample from the same site. Conservation International's TEAM project collected a worker in a Winkler sample at Casa Plastico, a 500m elevation site near the Barva Transect. I found a nest in a clay bank above a small stream, at Refugio Eladio, 800m elevation in the Pe–as Blancas river valley. There was a small flask-shaped entrance structure leading to a small chamber (see figure below). The chamber contained a few workers only, no brood or sexuals.
(Images linked to full-size images.)
Literature Cited
Feitosa, R. M., and C. R. F. Brand‹o. 2008. A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical myrmicine ant genus Lachnomyrmex Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 1890:1-49.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. longinoj@evergreen.edu