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Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2022)

// Distribution

Distribution:

  Geographic regions (According to curated Geolocale/Taxon lists):
    Americas: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
  Biogeographic regions (According to curated Bioregion/Taxon lists):
    Neotropical

Distribution Notes:

Costa Rica: Cordillera de Tilaran and Cordillera de Guanacaste.

Biology:

Natural History:

I know this species from Monteverde and Cerro Cacao, both montane sites. In Monteverde C. albicoxis very commonly inhabits houses. John Campbell used to refer to them as "cranny ants." They can be found nesting opportunistically in cupboards, in cardboard boxes, or behind books on shelves. At Estacion Cacao in Guanacaste Conservation Area I found them in the station building, nesting under an old mattress. Like some other species of Tanaemyrmex they seem capable of very quickly occupying a nest site and just as quickly abandoning it.

I have occasionally observed them outside of houses. In the Monteverde community a pasture relict tree fell. It was medium size Ficus tree with a dense mat of epiphytes, including Clusia and other epiphytic shrubs. I found a populous C. albicoxis colony under the mat, in a well-insolated area. This nest contained a developmental abnormality - an ergatogyne - that was like a major worker but with enlarged trunk and very short, malformed wings. Elsewhere under the same epiphyte mat I found an isolated foundress queen.

In a patch of dry scrub vegetation just below Monteverde (about 1300m elevation, just below Stuckys' farm) I found a small nest in a dead knot, about 2m high.

As is typical of mmost species of "Tanaemyrmex" Camponotus, workers appear to be strictly nocturnal in their foraging behavior.

References:

Forel, A. 1899. Biologia Centrali-Americana; or, contributions to the knowledge of the fauna and flora of Mexico and Central America. Insecta. Hymenoptera. 3 (Formicidae). London. 169 pp.

Specimen Habitat Summary

Found most commonly in these habitats: 7 times found in ridgetop cloud forest, 3 times found in mesophyll forest, 2 times found in montane rainforest clearing, 3 times found in cloud forest, 2 times found in cloud forest edge, fresh treefall, 1 times found in in house, 1 times found in moist forest edge, 1 times found in montane rainforest, 1 times found in 2nd growth vegetation, 1 times found in pasture near edge of tropical wet forest, ...

Found most commonly in these microhabitats: 10 times Malaise trap, 4 times beating vegetation, 3 times at bait, 2 times ex sifted leaf litter, 1 times aggregation in corner of room, 1 times under epiphytes, 1 times nest in dead knot, 1 times in house, 1 times in dead wood, 1 times in building, 1 times ex Malaise trap, ...

Collected most commonly using these methods: 9 times Malaise, 4 times Beating, 3 times Baiting, 2 times search, 2 times Malaise trap, 2 times MiniWinkler, 1 times blacklight, 1 times direct collection.

Elevations: collected from 420 - 1810 meters, 1248 meters average

Collect Date Range: collected between 1981-04-12 00:00:00.0 and 2016-06-12 00:00:00.0

Type specimens: Lectotype of Camponotus albicoxis: casent0910028

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