Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Arthropoda, Animalia
|
|
|
Range
Argentina, Brasil (SC, SP, MG, ES, GO, MT, PA, AM), Bolivia, Pereu, Guianas, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico (Veracruz, Chiapas). Costa Rica: widespread in wet forest areas.
Identification
Petiolar node longer than high, without a differentiated posterior face. T. rogenhoferi is somewhat polymorphic within colonies, exhibiting a wide range of worker sizes.
Natural History
Regarding this species, Brown (1965) states:
T. rogenhoferi is the most widespread and by far the most often-collected species, being an inhabitant of rotten logs in forest. This species is common in the Amazon Basin, where I have seen nests of several hundred workers moving in file through the rot zone just beneath the bark of a log. I have examined several such aggregations in the field, but I was not able to find definite indications of the prey of these undoubtedly predaceous ants.
In Costa Rica I have collected rogenhoferi at La Selva Biological Station and adjacent slopes of Volcan Barba to 700m, Penas Blancas Valley, Monteverde, Guanacaste Conservation Area (Pitilla), Corcovado National Park. I commonly find colonies beneath loose bark on rotten wood, and have found lone queens in small chambers under epiphytes in old treefalls. In spite of its commonness in rotten wood, I rarely obtain workers in Winkler samples of sifted litter from the forest floor. This suggests that colonies and foragers are restricted to large pieces of rotten wood, not venturing out into the litter.
Type Data
Typhlomyrmex rogenhoferi Mayr 1862:737. Syntype worker: "Amazonas."
Literature Cited
Brown, W. L., Jr. 1965. Contributions to a reclassification of the Formicidae. IV. Tribe Typhlomyrmecini (Hymenoptera). Psyche (Camb.) 72:65-78.
Mayr, G. 1862. Myrmecologische Studien. Verh. K-K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 12:649-776.
Page author:
John T. Longino, The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA 98505 USA.longinoj@evergreen.edu
Go back to top