minor appears to be a ubiquitous inhabitant of lowland wet forest throughout Costa Rica. The species is not restricted to wet forest, because I once observed foragers to be abundant in a small pasture with scattered guava trees. The pasture was adjacent to a forest patch, so I do not know if the species requires forest as a source area. Almost the only way I ever see this species is as workers and queens scattered sparsely on low vegetation at night. At La Selva, they have been collected in dawn canopy fogging events and in Malaise traps. From these observations I conclude: (1) both workers and queens forage, (2) foraging is solitary, and (3) foraging is almost entirely nocturnal. Foragers are furtive when illuminated at night, and thus it is very difficult to follow foragers back to a nest. I observed one nest entrance at Corcovado: a small clay turret extending 1-2cm up the side of an erect plant stem.
Mexico to Ecuador. Costa Rica: occurs throughout lowland wet forest to approx. 800m.
Taxonomic history
[Acanthoponera minor Emery, 1896g PDF: 33. Nomen nudum, attributed to Forel.].Combination in Acanthoponera: Emery, 1911e PDF: 36.Raised to species: Brown, 1958g PDF: 194.Senior synonym of Acanthoponera goeldii schwarzi: Brown, 1958g PDF: 194.Senior synonym of Acanthoponera spininodis: Brown, 1958g PDF: 194.Senior synonym of Acanthoponera crassa: Kempf & Brown, 1968 PDF: 90.
Acanthoponera minor is a species of ant belonging to the genus Acanthoponera. Described in 1899 by Forel, the species is native to North America, Central America and South America.[1]
Acanthoponera minor is a species of ant belonging to the genus Acanthoponera. Described in 1899 by Forel, the species is native to North America, Central America and South America.
