Attini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Range
Costa Rica (type locality), Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil (AM, Mato Grosso) (Lattke 1997).
Identification
Metanotum lacking longitudinal carinae; anterior margin of clypeus convex, with thin fringe of smooth cuticle; frontal lobes strongly angular in face view; in lateral view frontal lobes strongly sinuous, with posterior portion upturned; mesosoma length about 1.9mm or greater.
Natural History
Apterostigma dentigerum occurs in a variety of habitats in Costa Rica, including lowland wet forest, lowland dry forest, and montane forest. I have collected specimens from La Selva Biological Station and at 300m and 500m elevations on the Barva transect in Braulio Carrillo National Park, at 800m elevation in the Pe–as Blancas Valley east of Monteverde, and at Curu Wildlife Area at the tip of the Nicoya peninsula.
Most of my collections have been nocturnal foragers on the ground. I have never collected diurnal foragers and workers are relatively rare in Winkler samples of sifted litter, most of which are taken during the day. This suggests that workers stay in well-sheltered nests during the day.
I have found nests both in and under dead wood on the ground. Also I found a nest deep among dead roots of a stilt palm. The fungus garden is a flocculent white mass, usually suspended in a cavity. There is no hyphal envelope.
Literature Cited
Lattke, J. E. 1997. Revisi—n del gˇnero Apterostigma Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arq. Zool. (S‹o Paulo) 34:121-221.
Wheeler, W. M. 1925. Neotropical ants in the collections of the Royal Museum of Stockholm. Ark. Zool. 17A (8):1-55.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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