Dacetini, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Above images are of holotype. Additional images: holotype worker, dorsal view (reduced, original); alternate dorsal view (reduced, original), label (reduced, original).
Range
Costa Rica: Cordillera Volcanica Central, Barva transect from 1100-1500m.
Identification
Mandible short and curving downward in profile; lateral head capsule with the antennal scrobe mostly or entirely smooth and shining; propodeal spines present (former Glamyromyrmex); leading edge of scape lacking erect setae; disc of postpetiole in dorsal view very broadly U-shaped or V-shaped, with an extremely deeply concave anterior face; spongiform tissue absent from ventral surface of petiole, postpetiole and first gastral sternite; face lacking erect setae; head in side view convex above and below, not flattened; pronotum in dorsal view elongate, anterior margin strongly convex, rounding into lateral margins; pronotal humeral hair absent; dorsum of petiolar node strongly reticulate rugose; gaster in lateral view relatively elliptical, not strongly concave near postpetiolar insertion.
Similar species: longinoi, rogata.
Natural History
Members of the genus are all predaceous, with a static pressure mode of attack (Bolton 1999, 2000).
This species occurs in cloud forest. It is known from four workers from four different Winkler samples of sifted litter from the forest floor.
Types
Holotype worker: Costa Rica: Heredia Prov., 16 km SSE La Virgen (10¡16'N 84¡05'W), 1100 m elevation, 20.II.2001, leg. Project ALAS 11/WF/01/13, specimen code INB0003213484 (INBC).
3 Paratype workers: Same data as holotype but 11/WF/01/23, INB0003213214 (MCZC), 11/WF/01/40, INB0003213234 (JTLC); Costa Rica: Heredia Prov., 10 km NE Vara Blanca (10¡14'N 84¡05'W), 1500 m elevation, 9.III.2005, leg. Project ALAS 15/WF/02/03, INB0003666649(LACM).
Etymology
Named for my son August Andrew Longino.
Description
Worker: Mandible short and curving downward in profile; lateral head capsule with the antennal scrobe mostly or entirely smooth and shining; propodeal spines present (former Glamyromyrmex); leading edge of scape lacking erect setae; disc of postpetiole in dorsal view very broadly U-shaped, with an extremely deeply concave anterior face; spongiform tissue absent from ventral surface of petiole, postpetiole and first gastral sternite; face lacking erect setae; head in side view convex above and below, not flattened; pronotum in dorsal view elongate, anterior margin strongly convex, rounding into lateral margins; pronotal humeral hair absent; dorsum of petiolar node strongly reticulate rugose; gaster in lateral view relatively elliptical, not strongly concave near postpetiolar insertion.
Measurements (holotype): ML 0.134, HL 0.746, HW 0.600, HD 0.372, MeL 0.763.
Comments
This species is similar to P. longinoi. In Bolton's (2000:147) key to Neotropical Pyramica, it fails at couplet 70, which differentiates P. prex and P. longinoi. Like P. prex, P. augustandrewi has the head less dorsoventrally flattened (maximum depth of head = 0.62 X HW) and with the mandibles fully closed the cuticular margins of the mandibles from which the teeth arise diverge anteriorly (they are parallel in P. longinoi). Like P. longinoi, the dorsum of the petiolar node is longer than wide, and it is a large species, similar in size to P. longinoi (P. prex is minute). The propodeal spines of P. longinoi are relatively short with well-developed infradental lamellae; in contrast, the spines of P. augustandrewi are longer, more spiniform, and without strongly developed infradental lamellae. The first gastral sternite of P. longinoi is strongly concave anteriorly, so that the gaster is teardrop-shaped in side view. The first gastral sternite of P. augustandrewi is less concave and the gaster is more elliptical in side view.
Literature Cited
Bolton, B. 1999. Ant genera of the tribe Dacetonini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J. Nat. Hist. 33:1639-1689.
Bolton, B. 2000. The ant tribe Dacetini, with a revision of the Strumigenys species of the Malagasy Region by Brian L. Fisher, and a revision of the Austral epopostrumiform genera by Steven O. Shattuck. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 65:1-1028.
Longino, J. T. 2006. New species and nomenclatural changes for the Costa Rican ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecologische Nachrichten 8:131-143.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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