Formicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Additional images:
Minor worker, dorsal view of gaster (reduced, original).
Collection from Osa Peninsula, minor worker, lateral view (reduced, original); face view (reduced, original); dorsal view of gaster (reduced, original); major worker, lateral view (reduced, original); face view (reduced, original).
Range
Costa Rica: Atlantic and southern Pacific lowlands, Central Valley.
Identification
Minor worker: Propodeum lacking spines or tubercles of any kind; propodeum somewhat box-like, dorsal and lateral faces flat or nearly flat and meeting at an approximate right angle; dorsal face of propodeum subrectangular; pubescence on first gastral tergite dilute, appressed to suberect, not obscuring integument; color black; propodeum not strongly projecting, forming part of continuous dorsal profile of mesosoma; in face view with relatively abundant erect setae projecting from sides of head, from mandibular insertions to level of eyes; erect setae on first gastral tergite relatively short (longer on JTL-045 and brevis).
Similar species: planatus, JTL-045, brevis.
Natural History
This species is very common in lowland wet forest habitats. It can occur in both mature forest and highly disturbed areas. For example, workers are very common in canopy fogging samples from mature forest at La Selva Biological Station, yet I have also found them on the landscaping around the Juan Santa Maria airport near San Jose. Foragers are diurnal.
Nests occur in highly insolated areas such as upper forest canopy, open scrubby or second growth vegetation, roadsides, and agricultural land. The species is an opportunistic cavity nester. Nests are in dead branches, ranging from narrow vine stems to relatively large branches. In surveys of Cecropia trees, I often find nests in internodes of saplings, or in mature trees abandoned by Azteca, or in peripheral portions of trees that have a dominant Azteca colony elsewhere in the crown.
This species is morphologically and behaviorly very similar to C. planatus. The two species seem to differ in the degree of habitat disturbance they prefer. This species is relatively more common in mature forest habitats, while C. planatus dominates in open areas subject to higher disturbance rates.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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