Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.
25 July 1997
Specimen: Costa Rica, Prov. Puntarenas: 19km S. Ciudad Neily, 20m (J. Longino 2658-s). INBIOCRI001281641. Image by J. Longino. |
Specimen: Costa Rica, Prov. Puntarenas: 19km S. Ciudad Neily, 20m (J. Longino 2658-s). INBIOCRI001281641. Image by J. Longino. |
Identification
Apical fork of mandible with single intercalary tooth; mandible with single conspicuous preapical tooth near apical fork; eye composed of approximately 20 facets; basal fourth to all of first gastral tergum finely longitudinally striolate, opaque-sericeous, noncostulate portion of tergum (if any) smooth and shining; gaster covered with dense brush of flagelliform setae.
Head length 0.55-0.60mm, mandible length 0.35-0.38, CI 77-80, MI 60-64 (n=6 workers from 3 localities; Brown 1961 and one La Selva specimen).
Range
Southern Mexico to Panama, Bahamas (where probably introduced; Brown 1961). Costa Rica: Atlantic and southern Pacific lowlands.
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..."
lanuginosa occurs in wet and dry forest habitats. It nests in dead wood on the ground.
Selected Records
Winkler samples from Finca La Pacifica, 19km S Ciudad Neily.
La Selva: nocturnal forager in wet forest.
La Selva: nest in dead wood on ground (Thompson study).
Literature Cited
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1961. The Neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: Miscellaneous concluding studies. Psyche 68:58-69.
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1962. The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: Synopsis and keys to the species. Psyche 69:238-267.
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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