Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Identification (the genus has been revised by Andrade 1998)
Queen: frontal carinae projecting over clypeus anteriorly, appearing deeply notched anteriorly in face view; mandibles largely smooth, masticatory margin with low, blunt, inconspicuous teeth; metatarsus (basal segment) of middle tarsus relatively short and broad, subequal in length to following two tarsomeres, and with 4 stout, peg-like setae on outer distal margin; AT2 coarsely striate; AT3 largely smooth, very feebly striate in places; AT4-5 smooth and shining; pair of pygydial teeth flanking sting stout and much larger than adjacent teeth.
Worker: unknown.
Male (from Andrade 1998): frontal carinae strongly converging posteriorly; AT2 with traces of striae only anteriorly; AT3 smooth.
Range
Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador.
Natural History
The ants of this genus are rarely collected, and very little is known about them. Cylindromyrmex species nest in cavities in sound or rotten wood, under bark, in hollow stems, or in termite galleries (Brown 1975).
Costa Rican Specimen Records
Cartago: Turrialba, 15-18 Jul 1965 (coll. P. J. Spangler), adult male; Guanacaste: Cerro Pedregal, Volcan Cacao, 1000m, Feb-Apr 1989 (coll. I. Gauld), adult male; Limon: 16km W Guapiles, 10ˇ13'N, 83ˇ55'W, 400m, Aug-Sep 1989 (coll. P. Hanson), alate queen.
Type data
Cylindromyrmex godmani Forel 1899:4, pl. 1, fig. 2. Unique syntype alate queen: Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui, 2000' to 3000' (Champion) [BMNH].
Comments
Andrade (2001) examined the male from Cerro Pedregal and the queen from near Guapiles and confirmed their identity as godmani. She provided measurements for the queen, observing that it was smaller than the type queen.
Literature Cited
Andrade, M. L. de 1998. Fossil and extant species of Cylindromyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 105:581-664.
Andrade, M. L. de 2001. A remarkable Dominican amber species of Cylindromyrmex with Brazilian affinities and additions to the generic revision (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). BeitrŠge zur Entomologie 51:51-63.
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1975. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. V. Ponerinae, tribes Platythyreini, Cerapachyini, Cylindromyrmecini, Acanthostichini, and Aenictogitini. Search Agri., Entomol. (Ithaca) 5:1-115.
Forel, A. 1899. Formicidae. Biologia-Centrali Americana 3:1-169.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA. longinoj@evergreen.edu
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