Dolichoderus lutosus

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Dolichoderus lutosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Dolichoderinae
Tribe: Dolichoderini
Genus: Dolichoderus
Species: D. lutosus
Binomial name
Dolichoderus lutosus
(Smith, F., 1858)

Dolichoderus lutosus casent0173841 profile 1.jpg

Dolichoderus lutosus casent0173841 dorsal 1.jpg

Specimen labels

Synonyms

De Oliveira et al. (2015), studying ant occupancy of Cecropia trees in southwest Bahia, Brazil, found a colony of Dolichoderus lutosus nesting in a Cecropia pachystachya tree. Gillette et al. (2015) in a Chaipas, Mexico field study of twig-nesting ants in coffee plants found D. lutosus nesting on plants between 600-1000 m in elevation.

Identification

Color red brown with darker gaster; scapes and mesosomal dorsum with no erect setae; face sublucid; face and gaster with very sparse pubescence; pronotal humeri without spines or angles (Jack Longino).

Distribution

Latitudinal Distribution Pattern

Latitudinal Range: 25.68015° to -22.809943°.

   
North
Temperate 		North
Subtropical 		Tropical South
Subtropical 		South
Temperate

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists

Neotropical Region: Brazil (type locality), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

Distribution based on AntMaps

AntMapLegend.png

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

Koch et al. (2018) sampled this species in Caryocar barsiliense trees, in southeastern Brazil cerrado, as part of a study examining species interactions in ant-plants.

Philpot et al. (2018) reported this species was one of the most common ants in an experimental study examining colonization of twigs in shade coffee forests in Chiapas, Mexico (12.8% of the 202 nests found in 796 recovered twigs).

MacKay (1993): This is a common species, found in disturbed habitats (especially coffee plantations) as well as virgin forest up to 800 meters in elevation. It is common in riparian sites. Nests are found in hollow, dead twigs in trees or in abandoned arboreal termite nests or in spines of Acacia bursaria (Wheeler, 1936, 1942; pers. obs.). It is commonly intercepted in quarantine on orchids, in pseudobulbs and in banana debris. These ants are not aggressive when the nest is disturbed, they escape very rapidly into the leaf litter. Sexuals are commonly collected in light traps. Stray sexuals have been collected in Jan. (Panama), Jan., Mar. and May (Brasil), May and June (Mexico), and July (Guiana).

Jack Longino: This is by far the most common species in Costa Rica. They are most abundant in highly insolated areas such as roadsides, scrubby vegetation, and the high canopy. Nests are almost always in narrow guage dead stems, often simple stem fragments lodged in vegetation. They occasionally restrict nest openings with small amounts of carton construction, covering the ends of hollow sticks and leaving a small entrance hole. They are opportunistic nesters in myrmecophytes, particularly Cordia alliodora and Triplaris. In these cases they usually nest in dead branches low in the crown, away from the resident colony of dominant plant ants (e.g., Azteca pittieri, Pseudomyrmex viduus).

When held with forceps, workers produce a white, somewhat foamy substance that quickly spreads onto the forceps. They do not have the strong odour typical of other dolichoderines.

Flight Period

X X X X X X X X X X X X
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: Kaspari et al., 2001.

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Flight Month data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.

Castes

Worker

Images from AntWeb

Dolichoderus lutosus casent0173840 head 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0173840 profile 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0173840 dorsal 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0173840 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0173840. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ALWC, Alex L. Wild Collection.
Dolichoderus lutosus casent0178712 head 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0178712 profile 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0178712 dorsal 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0178712 label 1.jpg
Worker. Specimen code casent0178712. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by MIZA, Maracay, Venezuela.

Queen

Images from AntWeb

Dolichoderus lutosus casent0173839 head 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0173839 profile 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0173839 profile 2.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0173839 dorsal 1.jpgDolichoderus lutosus casent0173839 label 1.jpg
Queen (alate/dealate). Specimen code casent0173839. Photographer April Nobile, uploaded by California Academy of Sciences. Owned by ALWC, Alex L. Wild Collection.

Nomenclature

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

  • lutosus. Formica lutosa Smith, F. 1858b: 42 (w.) BRAZIL. Mann, 1916: 468 (q.m.). Combination in Dolichoderus: Mayr, 1886c: 356; in D. (Hypoclinea): Emery, 1894c: 228; in Hypoclinea: Kempf, 1972a: 120; in Dolichoderus: Shattuck, 1992c: 77. Senior synonym of cingulata: Mayr, 1886c: 356. Senior synonym of nigriventris and material of the nomen nudum ruficauda referred here: Mackay, 1993b: 74.
  • cingulata. Hypoclinea cingulata Mayr, 1862: 705 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of lutosus: Mayr, 1886c: 356.
  • nigriventris. Dolichoderus lutosus var. nigriventris Forel, 1893g: 351 (w.) ANTILLES. Combination in Hypoclinea: Kempf, 1972a: 120; in Dolichoderus: Shattuck, 1992c: 77. Junior synonym of lutosus: Mackay, 1993b: 74.

Description

Karyotype

Explore-icon.png Explore: Show all Karyotype data or Search these data. See also a list of all data tables or learn how data is managed.
  • 2n = 10, karyotype = 4M+6SM (Brazil) (Santos et al., 2016).

References

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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