Megalomyrmex incisus

Megalomyrmex incisus is a Neotropical species of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. The species is known from southern Mexico south to central Brazil and Peru.[1]

Megalomyrmex incisus
M. incisus worker from Paraguay
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Formicidae
Subfamily:
Myrmicinae
Tribe:
Solenopsidini
Genus:
Megalomyrmex
Species:
M. incisus
Binomial name
Megalomyrmex incisus
Smith, 1947

Habitat and distribution

M. incisus occurs in moist to wet forest habitats, from sea level to 1000 m elevation. It is most often encountered as workers in Winkler samples of sifted leaf litter.[2] Colonies have twice been collected from dead wood on the forest floor.[3]

Description

Material from Central America and Venezuela is very similar in color and mandibular dentition. Workers are solid black, and the basal teeth of the mandible vary in size, the second from the base being much larger than the flanking teeth. As a result the mandible appears falcate rather than triangular. A collection from Colombia is distinctive, with the color lighter red brown and the basal teeth of the mandible of more uniform size. Other size and shape characters, including the highly distinctive petiole, are the same as other M. incisus. M. incisus has a range disjunction. It is moderately abundant in Winkler samples from Guatemala and southern Mexico, occurs in Panama and Venezuela, yet has never been collected in Costa Rica, in spite of extensive survey work there.[1]

References
  1. Longino 2010, p. 46
  2. Longino 2010, pp. 45–46
  3. Brandão 2003, p. 157
  • Brandão, Carlos Roberto F. (2003), "Further revisionary studies on the ant genus Megalomyrmex Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Solenopsidini)", Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 43 (8): 145–159, doi:10.1590/S0031-10492003000800001
  • Longino, John T. (2010), "A taxonomic review of the ant genus Megalomyrmex Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Central America" (PDF), Zootaxa, 2720: 35–58, doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2720.1.3
  • This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Longino, John T. (2010), "A taxonomic review of the ant genus Megalomyrmex Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Central America" (PDF), Zootaxa, 2720: 35–58, doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2720.1.3 Please check the source for the exact licensing terms.


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