This infrequently encountered species inhabits mature lowland rainforest. I have collected it in several Winkler samples of sifted litter from the forest floor, at various sites in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. But at La Selva Biological Station it has also been collected in fogging samples and Malaise traps. Mary Cornelius, an OTS student, found a nest in a leaf domatium of the ant-plant Tococa.
French Guiana, Costa Rica. Costa Rica: Atlantic slope to 600m.
Taxonomic history
See also: Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 280.Comments
Kempf described this species from a single worker. Numerous collections are now known from Costa Rica, and we have also seen material from Colombia and Brazil (Bahia and Matto Grosso states).
In Costa Rica, this species is infrequently encountered. It inhabits mature lowland rainforest in the Atlantic lowlands. It has been collected in Winkler samples of sifted litter from the forest floor at Hitoy Cerere Biological Reserve, Casa Plastico near Rara Avis, the 500 m site on the Barva Transect, and La Selva Biological Station. Quantitative sampling by the ALAS project reveals it to be a low density species occurring most often in fogging samples, and less often in Winkler and Berlese samples of forest floor litter (Table 2). Dinah Davidson collected it in a Piper plant at La Selva. Mary Cornelius, an OTS student, found a nest in a leaf domatium of an ant-plant (Tococa, Melastomataceae) at Tortuguero, but it contained only workers and brood. Grant Gentry found small carton nests under leaves at La Selva (pers. comm.). Workers have been collected from the stomachs of dendrobatid frogs in the Choco region of Colombia. These results suggest that the species may nest in the low arboreal zone yet forage in the leaf litter on the forest floor.
