This species occurs in a wide variety of habitats, from moist to wet forest, lowlands to mid-montane elevations, weedy roadside vegetation, second growth forest, or mature forest. It is nearly always in highly insolated areas, being relatively common near ground level in scrubby vegetation but restricted to the high canopy in mature forest.
Nests are in narrow galleries in dead or live stems of a variety of plant species. The dead stems are usually narrow gauge, hard, and woody, not fibrous. Colonies may be polydomous, occupying multiple dead or live stems in a tree or shrub. I have found colonies nesting in live stems of Cordia alliodora, Cecropia obtusifolia, Callophylum brasiliense, Sloanea, and Ficus. It is unknown whether workers do any excavation of galleries on their own or just occupy preexisting chambers in myrmecophytes or chambers left by stem-boring insects.
Workers can be observed foraging on exposed stem and trunk surfaces in full sun, often moving in files. Pseudococcidae may occur in nest chambers in live stems.
Alate queens may be in nests at any time of year. Alate queens have been collected in Malaise traps and one was collected at a blacklight sheet.
Costa Rica. In Costa Rica it occurs throughout the country, from sea level to 1400m elevation cloud forest.
Taxonomic history
Longino, 2006a PDF: 43 (q.).Senior synonym of Myrmelachista costaricensis: Longino, 2006a PDF: 43.
