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Eurhopalothrix gravis_nr

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2021)

// Distribution

Distribution:

  Geographic regions (According to curated Geolocale/Taxon lists):
    Americas: Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela
  Biogeographic regions (According to curated Bioregion/Taxon lists):
    Neotropical

Distribution Notes:

Southern Mexico to Costa Rica. Doubtful record from Santa Catarina State, Brazil.

Biology:

This species occurs in mature to second growth wet forest habitats. It is a lowland species, occurring from sea level to 1100 m in Central America. Many specimens are from Berlese and Winkler samples of sifted litter and rotten wood from the forest floor, but unlike many other species, specimens have also been found by direct search, usually isolated workers under loose bark of rotten wood. An alate queen was collected in a flight intercept trap in Belize, 19–28 August 2007 (P. W. Kovarik). Where it has been collected it is typically low density, occurring in less than 1% of Winkler samples, but one exception was a site at 1100 m elevation on the Barva Transect in Costa Rica, where it occurred in 8% of samples.

Identification:

A relatively large species (HW 0.83-0.94mm); mandible with double tooth row; face with full complement of 18 erect setae; promesonotum with 3 pairs erect setae.

Comments:

Eurhopalothrix reichenspergeri, based on a single worker from Santa Catarina State, Brazil, was synonymized under E. gravis by Brown and Kempf (1960). Brown and Kempf's concept of E. gravis was considerably broader than the concept adopted by Longino (2013). The synonymy of E. reichenspergeri under E. gravis and thus the occurrence of E. gravis in southern Brazil should be considered suspect until the South American fauna is better sampled and understood.

References:

Brown, W. L., Jr., Kempf, W. W. 1960. A world revision of the ant tribe Basicerotini. Stud. Entomol. (n.s.) 3:161-250.

Hoelldobler, B., Wilson, E. O. 1986. Soil-binding pilosity and camouflage in ants of the tribes Basicerotini and Stegomyrmecini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Zoomorphology (Berl.) 106:12-20.

Mann, W. M. 1922. Ants from Honduras and Guatemala. Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus. 61:1-54.

Menozzi, C. 1936. Due nuovi Dacetini di Costa Rica e descrizione della larva di uno di essi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Arb. Morphol. Taxon. Entomol. Berl.-Dahl. 3:81-85.

Santschi, F. 1923. Descriptions de quelques nouvelles fourmis du Bresil. Rev. Mus. Paul. 13:1255-1264.

Wilson, E. O. 1956. Feeding behavior in the ant Rhopalothrix biroi Szabo. Psyche (Camb.) 63:21-23.

Wilson, E. O., Brown, W. L., Jr. 1985 ("1984"). Behavior of the cryptobiotic predaceous ant Eurhopalothrix heliscata, n. sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Basicerotini). Insectes Soc. 31:408-428.

Specimen Habitat Summary

Found most commonly in these habitats: 24 times found in montane wet forest, 9 times found in mature wet forest, 4 times found in rainforest, 3 times found in tropical rainforest, with big trees, probably primary, 1 times found in SSE, 3 times found in mixed forest, 2 times found in tropical rainforest, 1 times found in forest, 3 times found in ridgetop cloud forest, isolated peak with oak trees, 2 times found in tropical wet forest, ...

Found most commonly in these microhabitats: 23 times ex sifted leaf litter, 15 times Hojarasca, 1 times ex rotten log, 3 times litter, 2 times ex sifted litter, 2 times Cerca del Refugio Cascante, 2 times suelo, 1 times on dead wood, 1 times ex rotten wood, 1 times Berlese, 1 times under log, ...

Collected most commonly using these methods: 11 times miniWinkler, 11 times Winkler, 12 times Berlese, 13 times Mini Winkler, 7 times maxiWinkler, 7 times search, 2 times flight intercept trap, 1 times Davis sifter, 1 times FIT, 1 times Transecto Tatamá, TAT 203, 1 times 6L sifted litter, extracted in Winkler sack over 36 hours, ...

Elevations: collected from 35 - 2000 meters, 746 meters average

Collect Date Range: collected between 1971-02-19 and 2020-02-16

Type specimens: syntype of Eurhopalothrix gravis: casent0900928; syntype of Rhopalothrix reichenspergeri: casent0912537

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