Solenopsis brevicornis Emery 1888

Longino, 1 Mar 2014: In Costa Rica, this distinctive species occurs in wet to moist forest habitats, in leaf litter on the ground. It is known almost exclusively from Winkler and Berlese samples of forest floor leaf litter. In the Atlantic lowlands it occurs in a high proportion of Winkler samples. Chris Thompson carried out a study at La Selva Biological Station, surveying ants nests inhabiting dead wood and dead sticks in the leaf litter. He found two nests of this species, including one with alate queens.

Longino, 1 Mar 2014: Size small; color black; clypeus with moderately diverging carinae, projecting as small teeth; mandible with basal tooth distinct, not widely separated from third tooth; eyes usually large, circular, composed of 5-8 fused ommatidia (occasionally reduced); sparse long setae projecting from vertex margin and sides of head; mesosoma short and compact; petiolar node subtriangular to bluntly rounded; lower portions of katepisternum, propodeum, petiole, and postpetiole punctate. Among the Costa Rican fauna, this is the only small Solenopsis I know with extensive punctate sculpture; all the rest are largely smooth and shining. However, the extent of sculpture is highly variable and can almost vanish. Specimens from higher elevation tend to be larger, darker, with somewhat inflated propodeum, and reduced sculpture on propodeum and petiole. For example, in Winkler samples from Penas Blancas there can appear ants that look very different: one with extensive sculpture, lighter color, and subtriangular petiole; another with reduced sculpture, darker color, and more rounded petiole. But these differences are gradually bridged among material from other collections and other localities.

Solenopsis brevicornis Emery, 1888c PDF: 356 (w.q.) BRAZIL. Neotropic. AntCat AntWiki HOL

Taxonomic history

Senior synonym of: Solenopsis brevicornis petropolitana, Solenopsis medioclara: Pacheco & Mackay, 2013 PDF: 123.