|
|
Overview | |
This is a large, cryptic ponerine ant. Despite its size, it is a very difficult ant to collect because it freezes up when it senses your presence.
|
|
|
Names | |
|
|
|
Natural history | |
It hunts singly in the leaf litter. It apparently has very good eyesight. And freezes up when it feels threatened or when it senses your presence.
A queen was also collected in the same transect station about two hours after the first worker was collected. This queen was surrounded by six persons as it walked in the leaf litter but still managed to disappear from our gaze. It reappeared two meters from where it was last sighted. It was finally collected because the light was fading.
|
|
|
How to encounter | |
Hand-sift leaf litter in plastic tubs. If you find a live worker, move very slowly and offer it with a termite. It might also help if you could mark it with a quick-drying, water-soluble correction fluid. Release it and try to follow it to its nest entrance. But always move very slowly.
|
|
|
Acknowledgements | |
We acknowledge the quick reflexes and sharp eyesight of Rich Serillano for finding the first specimen of this species on our transect in 2003.
|
|
| Supported by | |
Updated: 2024-04-19 10:56:56 gmt
|
