Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Range
Costa Rica: Cordillera de Guanacaste, C. de Tilar‡n, C. de Talamanca, montane areas.
Identification
Minor worker: head length 0.61mm, head width 0.56mm, scape length 0.51mm, Webers length 0.68mm (n=1). Head flat behind; mesonotal suture somewhat impressed; propodeal spines medium length, erect; face and mesosoma, including side of pronotum, punctatorugose; first gastral tergum smooth and shining; dorsal pilosity of medium abundance, moderate length, moderately stiff; tibiae with dense pilosity of uniform length, subdecumbent, shorter than width of tibia; color red brown.
Major worker: head length 1.06mm, head width 0.99mm, scape length 0.51mm (n=1). Face generally shining; medial area between frontal carinae with feeble longitudinal rugae; area between eyes and frontal carinae reticulate rugose foveolate; posterior half of face and vertex lobes smooth and shining; hypostomal margin flat, somewhat shelf-like in form; median tooth low and broad; stout lateral teeth about one third distance from midline to recessed teeth flanking mandible bases; dorsal pilosity abundant; head with abundant wooly pilosity, a decumbent pile visible on sides of head in face view.
Similar species: prolixa, beloceps, JTL-139, rectitrudis.
Natural History
This species inhabits montane moist to wet forest. Workers occur in Winkler samples of sifted leaf litter from the forest floor. I found a nest under a stone in the forest above Estaci—n Cacao in the Guanacaste Conservation Area.
Comments
This is a robust version of prolixa. A major worker that Mike Kaspari collected at Las Cruces has the head shorter and broader and the pilosity on the side of the head more erect compared to the soldier from Volcan Cacao.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. longinoj@evergreen.edu
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