| Genus List |
The genus Probolomyrmex occurs in each of the major tropical areas of the world: the Americas, Africa, and Indo-Australia (Taylor 1965, Brown 1975, Agosti 1994). It is everywhere extremely rare, or at least very difficult to collect. The few known collections are usually individual workers obtained in Winkler or Berlese samples of leaf litter and soil. The few nests that have been observed have been in rotten wood on the ground in rainforest sites, or in the case of Australia, under stones in drier forest types. Almost nothing is known of their foraging habits. Taylor (1965) observed a captive colony of P. boliviensis; his observations are available on the boliviensis page.
There is only one species of Probolomyrmex known from Costa Rica so far:
Probolomyrmex boliviensis Mann 1923.
Agosti, D. 1995 ("1994"). A revision of the South American species of the ant genus Probolomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. N. Y. Entomol. Soc. 102:429-434.
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.
Taylor, R. W. 1965. A monographic revision of the rare tropicopolitan ant genus Probolomyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. Lond. 117:345-365.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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