Azteca tonduzi

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Azteca tonduzi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Tribe: Leptomyrmecini
Genus: Azteca
Species: A. tonduzi
Binomial name
Azteca tonduzi
Forel, 1899

Azteca tonduzi casent0249552 p 1 high.jpg

Azteca tonduzi casent0249552 d 1 high.jpg

Specimen Labels

Azteca tonduzi is an inconspicuous species which nests in hollow dead stems and sometimes forms carton nests among epiphytes. The types were collected in orchid pseudobulbs (Forel 1899). In Costa Rica I have collected this species multiple times. A dealate queen was in a dead branch of Ficus werckleana, a colony inhabited dead branches of Terminalia catappa along a beach edge, a colony inhabited dead culms of Uniola (sea oats) at the edge of a mangrove swamp, and workers were in small carton nests over coccoid Hemiptera on a branch of Licania. The largest colony I have observed was in a mangrove swamp near the mouth of the Rio Llorona in Corcovado National Park. Workers were very abundant, nesting in bases of several species of bromeliads. On the mangrove branches and trunks there were carton shelters containing brood and coccoid Hemiptera. The colony spread across multiple trees of Avicennia and Laguncularia. Alate queens have been encountered flying during the day and occasionally at blacklights. (Longino 2007)

Identification

Longino (2007) - The queen is distinguishable from other species by its small size. Workers are superficially similar to small workers of Azteca velox, Azteca nigra, Azteca flavigaster, Azteca gnava, and Azteca sericeasur, but differ in the palpal formula being 5,3 instead of 6,4.

Keys including this Species

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 17.9933333° to 8.583333333°.

 
North
Temperate
North
Subtropical
Tropical South
Subtropical
South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Costa Rica (type locality).

Distribution based on AntMaps

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Distribution based on AntWeb specimens

Check data from AntWeb

Countries Occupied

Number of countries occupied by this species based on AntWiki Regional Taxon Lists. In general, fewer countries occupied indicates a narrower range, while more countries indicates a more widespread species.
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Estimated Abundance

Relative abundance based on number of AntMaps records per species (this species within the purple bar). Fewer records (to the left) indicates a less abundant/encountered species while more records (to the right) indicates more abundant/encountered species.
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Biology

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Azteca tonduzi casent0903022 h 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903022 p 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903022 d 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903022 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Azteca tonduziWorker. Specimen code casent0903022. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.
Azteca tonduzi casent0909679 h 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0909679 p 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0909679 d 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0909679 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Azteca tonduziWorker. Specimen code casent0909679. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MHNG, Geneva, Switzerland.

Queen

Azteca tonduzi inb0003662434 h 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi inb0003662434 p 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi inb0003662434 p 2 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi inb0003662434 d 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi inb0003662434 l 1 high.jpg
.

Male

Images from AntWeb

Azteca tonduzi casent0903021 h 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903021 p 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903021 p 2 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903021 p 3 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903021 d 1 high.jpgAzteca tonduzi casent0903021 l 1 high.jpg
Syntype of Azteca tonduziMale (alate). Specimen code casent0903021. Photographer Will Ericson, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by NHMUK, London, UK.

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

  • tonduzi. Azteca tonduzi Forel, 1899c: 114 (w.m.) COSTA RICA.
    • Longino, 2007: 49 (q.).
    • Status as species: Emery, 1913a: 34; Wheeler, W.M. 1942: 245; Kempf, 1972a: 35; Shattuck, 1994: 26; Bolton, 1995b: 80; Longino, 2007: 49 (redescription).

Unless otherwise noted the text for the remainder of this section is reported from the publication that includes the original description.

Description

Worker

Longino (2007) - (n=7): HLA 0.76 (0.64–0.86), HW 0.77 (0.64–0.90), SL 0.58(0.49–0.62), CI 102 (100–105), SI 76 (72–79).

Palpal formula 5,3; middle and hind tibia with prominent pectinate apical spur; dorsal surface of mandible smooth and shining, with moderately abundant small piligerous puncta; medial and lateral clypeal lobes at about same level; head with moderately convex sides, strongly cordate posterior margin; in lateral profile promesonotum forming single low convexity; scape with sparse, inconspicuous erect setae, length of setae about one quarter maximum width of scape; mid and hind tibia with moderately abundant erect setae, setae inconspicuous, longest about one quarter to one third maximum width of tibia; side of head with 5 or more fine, short erect setae distributed more or less evenly along side; posterior margin of head with abundant short erect setae; pronotum and mesonotum with abundant erect setae, those on dorsal face of propodeum fewer, shorter, and less erect; color light yellow brown to brown.

Queen

Longino (2007) - (n=5): HLA 1.16 (1.10–1.16), HW 1.19 (1.13–1.22), SL 0.76 (0.74–0.77), CI 103 (103–105), SI 66 (64–67).

Palpal formula 5,3; ocelli small; middle and hind tibia with prominent pectinate apical spur; dorsal surface of mandible with abundant piligerous puncta, setae in puncta fine, subdecumbent, interspaces between puncta smooth and shiny; medial and lateral clypeal lobes at about same level; head subquadrate, posterior margin nearly flat; petiolar node strongly compressed into thin scale at apex; posteroventral petiolar lobe shallow, evenly convex from front to back; scape with sparse erect setae, inconspicuous and only visible at certain angles, about as long as one quarter maximum width of scape; middle and hind tibia with moderately abundant erect setae, fine, inconspicuous, longest about as long as one fifth maximum width of tibia (MTSC 5–10); side of head with 0–5 short erect setae; posterior margin of head with moderately abundant short erect setae; pronotum with erect setae on posterior margin; mesoscutum and scutellum with sparse, short, erect setae, propodeum with similar covering of erect setae or with only a few erect setae concentrated at anterior margin; petiolar node rimmed with erect pubescence and 2–4 longer erect setae, posterior border of sternal lobe of petiole with tuft of short whitish setae; gastral terga with sparse erect setae; entire body light yellow brown to brown.

Type Material

Longino (2007) - Syntype workers, males: Costa Rica (Tonduz) Musee d'Histoire Naturelle Genève, Museum of Comparative Zoology (examined).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

  • Baroni Urbani C. 1977. Katalog der Typen von Formicidae (Hymenoptera) der Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Basel (2. Teil). Mitt. Entomol. Ges. Basel (n.s.) 27: 61-102.
  • Castano-Meneses, G., M. Vasquez-Bolanos, J. L. Navarrete-Heredia, G. A. Quiroz-Rocha, and I. Alcala-Martinez. 2015. Avances de Formicidae de Mexico. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
  • Emery C. 1913. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Dolichoderinae. Genera Insectorum 137: 1-50.
  • Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
  • Franco W., N. Ladino, J. H. C. Delabie, A. Dejean, J. Orivel, M. Fichaux, S. Groc, M. Leponce, and R. M. Feitosa. 2019. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana. Zootaxa 4674(5): 509-543.
  • INBio Collection (via Gbif)
  • Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
  • Longino J. T. 2007. A taxonomic review of the genus Azteca (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Costa Rica and a global revision of the aurita group. Zootaxa 1491: 1-63
  • Longino J. T., J. Coddington, and R. K. Colwell. 2002. The ant fauna of a tropical rain forest: estimating species richness three different ways. Ecology 83: 689-702.
  • Longino J. T., and R. K. Colwell. 2011. Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2(3): 16pp.
  • Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
  • Shattuck S. O. 1994. Taxonomic catalog of the ant subfamilies Aneuretinae and Dolichoderinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). University of California Publications in Entomology 112: i-xix, 1-241.
  • Wheeler W. M. 1942. Studies of Neotropical ant-plants and their ants. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 90: 1-262.