Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Additional images: queen, face view (small, large); lateral view (small, large); mandible (large).
Range
Costa Rica: mid-elevation, 1000-1200m on Barva transect, 1400-1600m in Monteverde area, 1300m in Orosi area above Cartago.
Identification
Medium size; color uniform orange; anterior clypeal teeth pronounced; metanotal groove strongly impressed, promesonotum and propodeum strongly convex.
Natural History
This species inhabits montane wet forest. It appears to be a narrow elevational specialist, being very abundant at certain elevations (depending on orographic features of landscape). On the Barva transect it is very abundant at 1100m, yet absent from 500m and 2000m sites. In the Monteverde area, the species is relatively common in cloud forest and moist forest above about 1300m on both slopes, but absent from Refugio Eladio at 800m, despite intensive collecting there.
Where abundant, workers are found in Winkler and Berlese samples, flight intercept trap samples, and sweep net samples from low vegetation. Thus they seem to occur both in the leaf litter and in low vegetation. I have only one record of workers collected at baits, and only one record from a Malaise trap. It is interesting that they are relatively common in sweep net samples, yet rare in Malaise traps.
While collecting in Monteverde cloud forest I have found workers out foraging in very cold and wet weather when no other surface ants were foraging. This is indicative of their specialization for cloud forest conditions.
I have never found a nest. Given how common workers are on the ground and low vegetation, my guess is that the nest is subterranean.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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