Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.
22 April 1997
Identification
Apical fork of mandible with one intercalary tooth; mandible with small preapical tooth very close to apical fork, and a minute denticle near the apical third of mandible length; gaster smooth and shining, with setae stiff, straight, slightly thickened.
This species, known from a single specimen from the Penas Blancas Valley, shares characters with both micretes and nevermanni. It is intermediate in size between micretes and nevermanni. It has gastral pilosity more like nevermanni than micretes. It has a uniformly punctate face, in contrast to the other two species which have more rugose faces.
Similar species: micretes, nevermanni.
Range
Costa Rica (mid-elevation Atlantic slope in Cordillera de Tilaran).
Natural History
Brown and Wilson (1959) summarize the genus as follows:
"Widespread in tropics and warm temperate areas. Primarily forest-dwelling; some species occur in grassland and arid scrub. ... Nests mostly in soil and rotting wood; a few species live in arboreal plant cavities in tropical rain forest. Foraging hypogaeic to epigaeic-arboreal. Food: most species are collembolan feeders; a few are polyphagous predators or occasionally feed on sugary substances..."
JTL-003 is known from one specimen from the Penas Blancas Valley: night collecting in primary forest; a worker on vegetation.
Literature Cited
Brown, W. L., Jr., Wilson, E. O. 1959. The evolution of the dacetine ants. Quarterly Review of Biology 34:278-294.
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