Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Additional images: worker dorsal view, metasoma lateral view.
Range
Costa Rica (Atlantic lowlands).
Identification
Mandible somewhat bowed; apical fork of mandible without intercalary tooth; mandible with long, spiniform preapical tooth about one quarter distance from apical fork to mandible base; minute denticle variably present one half to two thirds distance to mandible base; eye composed of 1-4 facets; gaster smooth with strong basal costulae; gaster with erect setae distinctly spatulate; leading edge of scape at the subbasal bend lacks a lamella; spiniform preapical tooth of mandible occurs closer to the apicodorsal tooth than to the proximal denticle. Also see Bolton (2000:550).
Head width 0.38mm, head length 0.47, mandible length 0.25, CI 81, MI 53 (n=1 specimen from La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica).
Similar species: nastata, perdita.
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..."
Members of the genus are all predaceous, with a kinetic mode of attack (Bolton 1999).
This species occurs in lowland wet forest, in leaf litter on the forest floor.
Selected Records
Winkler and/or Berlese samples from La Selva, Braulio Carrillo National Park at 300m.
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., Wilson, E. O. 1959. The evolution of the dacetine ants. Quarterly Review of Biology 34:278-294.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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