Dolichoderinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
Range
Northern South America to Peru, Bolivia.
Identification
Azteca jelskii is a South American version of A. tonduzi. The only difference is that the scape and tibiae of A. jelskii lack erect setae. The scape and tibiae of A. tonduzi have an inconspicuous but distinct series of short erect setae. There is variation in queen head size in South America. A queen from Venezuela is smaller than queens of A. tonduzi (HLA 1.01mm versus 1.10-1.16mm, respectively); two queens, one from Peru and one from Bolivia are similar in size to A. tonduzi queens (HLA 1.16-1.17mm).
Natural History
The types of tonduzi columbica (synonymized under jelskii by Longino [2007]) were collected on a live tree that also contained a nest of Dolichoderus decollatus (Forel 1912). A collection by Doug Yu from Manu National Park, Peru, was from a carton nest on Inga stipulacea. In Venezuela I collected a nest in a dead vine stem, and a polygynous nest with many dealate queens in a dead Cecropia branch.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. longinoj@evergreen.edu
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