Dacetini, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Range
Full Range: Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil (Minas Gerais).
Costa Rican Range: southern Atlantic lowlands, south of Limon.
Identification
Mandibles in side view straight, not broadly curved ventrally; mandibles relatively short, subtriangular, much of the apical portion meeting along a serially toothed masticatory margin when closed (former Smithistruma); leading edge of scape with a row of conspicuous projecting curved hairs, of which those distal to the subbasal bend distinctly curve toward the base of the scape; pronotal humeral hair absent; dorsal surfaces of middle and hind tibiae with decumbent to appressed short spatulate hairs; face punctate; side of mesosoma completely punctate; petiole with ventral spongiform appendage; postpetiole disc completely smooth; mid-pronotal arched-transverse ridge with row of spoon-shaped hairs, most visible in dorsal view; first gastral tergite smooth behind the basigastral costulae, the latter distinct and extending at least the basal fifth to quarter of the length of the tergite, not masked by dense sculpture; infradental lamella of propodeum strongly developed. Also see Bolton (2000:219).
Natural History
Members of the genus are all predaceous, with a static pressure mode of attack (Bolton 1999).
The species was described from "1 female and 4 workers ... collected by Dr. George C. Wheeler from Talia Farm, Estrella Valley, Costa Rica, June 18, 1924 (Weber 1934)." Dozens of sifted litter samples from Atlantic slope wet forest, including sites near the type locality, have not produced examples of this species. The species skwarrae, synonymized with epinotalis by Brown (1953), was "described from 15 specimens representing four colonies, all taken by Dr. Skwarra in Tillandsia streptophylla in two localities: Tlacocintla (type locality; 487 and 494) and Mirador (153 and 290) [Wheeler 1934]." Bolton (2000) reports Mexican collections by Dressler and by Dejean, both researchers who work with epiphytes. These observations all suggest the species is arboreal.
Original Description
Strumigenys (Cephaloxys) studiosi subsp. epinotalis Weber 1934:46. Syntype worker: Costa Rica, Prov. Limon, Estrella Valley, Talia Farm, 18.vi.1924 (G. C. Wheeler) [USNM, MCZ].
Later moved to Smithistruma, then Pyramica. See Bolton (2000) for complete synonymy.
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.
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1953. Revisionary studies of the ant tribe Dacetini. Am. Mid. Nat. 50:1-137.
Weber, N. A. 1934. Notes on neotropical ants, including the descriptions of new forms. Rev. Entomol. (Rio J.) 4:22-59.
Wheeler, W. M. 1934. Neotropical ants collected by Dr. Elisabeth Skwarra and others. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 77:157-240.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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