Dacetini, Myrmicinae, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
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Additional images: worker dorsal view.
Line drawing of worker: lateral view, face view (from Brown 1958).
Range
Costa Rica, Panama (type locality), Ecuador. In Costa Rica: southern Pacific lowlands.
Identification
Apical fork of mandible without intercalary teeth; mandible with one strong preapical tooth; gaster smooth and shining with strong basal costulae; gaster with long flagelliform setae. Also see Bolton (2000:542).
Head length 0.78-0.80mm, mandible length 0.71-0.72, CI 72-74, MI 90-91 (n=2 workers from 1 locality; Brown 1962).
Similar species: marginiventris.
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).
longispinosa occurs in lowland wet forest. Workers forage in leaf litter on the forest floor. Weber (1952) observed the nest of the type collection, from Barro Colorado Island, Panama. The nest was in rainforest soil, below the soil cover, and surmounted by a small crater.
Selected Records
Winkler samples from Carara, Corcovado National Park (Sirena), 19km S Ciudad Neily.
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. 1958 (1957). The neotropical species of the ant genus Strumigenys Fr. Smith: Group of marginiventris Santschi. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 65:123-128.
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.
Weber, N. A. 1952. Biological notes on Dacetini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). American Museum Novitates 1554:1-7.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
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