Species: Tapinoma litorale

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2013)

Distribution:

Bahamas, USA (Florida), Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia. Costa Rica: lowland wet forests throughout the country.

Biology:

Natural History:

This species occurs in lowland rainforest. It is arboreal, nesting in thin dead sticks or other small plant cavities in highly insolated microhabitats, such as forest edges or high in the canopy. For example, I observed one nest in the core of a thin, soft rotten stick. There was a small tubular chamber in the center, about 5cm long, that housed a total of 20 adult workers and one dealate queen. Most colonies I have seen have been polygynous, with multiple dealate queens in nests.

Notes:

I take a broad view of litorale, to include panamense Wheeler 1934 (and its synonym canalis Wheeler 1942). There is considerable variation and there could well be multiple cryptic species.

Taxon Page Author History

Specimen Data Summary

Found most commonly in these habitats: 10 times found in montane wet forest, 2 times found in STR 2050, 3 times found in Wet forest on karst, 1 times found in CCL 400, 3 times found in wet forest canopy, 3 times found in CCL 840M, 2 times found in hardwood swamp, 1 times found in CCL 700m., 1 times found in lowland rainforest, 1 times found in Oak Hammock, ...

Collected most commonly using these methods or in the following microhabitats: 7 times search, 9 times Fogging, 10 times Malaise, 3 times Berlese, 2 times Winkler, 1 times Foggin

Elevations: collected from 5 - 1300 meters, 303 meters average

5 Specimens Imaged | View All 64 Specimens for this species

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