Nomamyrmex hartigii

Identification
Watkins (1977) - Workers: postoccipital sulcus absent; dorsum of petiole without longitudinal rugae. Males: border of head behind ocellar peduncle without a lamella; first gastric tergite without longitudinal rugae; width of blade of stipes at least two-thirds its length; posteroventral projection of volsella triangular with a small dorsal tooth near sharp apex. The characteristics of N. hartigi are very uniform throughout its entire range.

Jack Longino:

'Worker: back of head without deep transverse groove (present in esenbeckii complex); top of petiole smooth (longitudinally wrinkled in esenbeckii complex).

Male: Border of head behind ocellar peduncle without a narrow lamella (present in esenbeckii complex); first gastric tergite without longitudinal rugae (present in esenbeckii complex); width of blade of stipes two thirds its length (about half its length in esenbeckii complex); posteroventral projection of volsella triangular with a small dorsal tooth near the sharp apex (volsellae blunt, gradually tapered or snout-shaped in esenbeckii complex).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

Biology
Jack Longino: Nomamyrmex hartigii is a New World army ants. It presumably shares with all army ants the habits of group raiding and colony nomadism. This species is much less often seen than members of the esenbeckii complex. My own observations of hartigii are limited to the following:

At Sirena, Corcovado National Park, I observed a nasutiform termite nest on the ground. Thousands of termites had abandoned the nest and were coating the surrounding vegetation. Entire Heliconia leaves had continuous mono-layers of termites. Dolichoderus bispinosus were preying on the termites above ground. I flipped the termite nest and found masses of Nomamyrmex hartigii workers beneath. They had moved into the base from a tunnel and were carrying away termites from several large caches of dead termites.

In Monteverde, at 1400m elevation in the center of the community, I observed a column crossing a hard-packed rock road (near Pension Flor Mar). The column emerged from the ground on one side of the road and disappeared below ground on the other.

These observations suggest that this species is largely subterranean. Thus, even though it is very infrequently collected, little can be said about its absolute abundance.

Nomenclature

 *  hartigii. Labidus hartigii Westwood, 1842: 75, pl. 20, fig. 3 (m.) BRAZIL. Combination in Eciton: Dalla Torre, 1893: 3; in E. (Labidus): Emery, 1910b: 23; in E. (Holopone): Santschi, 1925b: 11; in E. (Nomamyrmex): Borgmeier, 1936: 55; in Nomamyrmex: Borgmeier, 1953: 8. Senior synonym of apicifer, hansi: Borgmeier, 1953: 14, 9, respectively; of schlechtendali: Borgmeier, 1955: 155. See also: Watkins, 1977a: 204.
 * schlechtendali. Eciton schlechtendali Mayr, 1887: 552 (w.) SOUTH AMERICA. Combination in E. (Labidus): Emery, 1910b: 23; in E. (Holopone): Santschi, 1925b: 11; in E. (Nomamyrmex): Borgmeier, 1936: 55; in Nomamyrmex: Borgmeier, 1953: 11. Junior synonym of hartigii: Borgmeier, 1955: 155.
 * hansi. Eciton (Labidus) hartigi r. hansi Forel, 1912c: 43 (m.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of hartigii: Borgmeier, 1953: 9.
 * apicifer. Eciton (Labidus) apicifer Santschi, 1916e: 366, fig. (m.) PARAGUAY. Junior synonym of hartigii: Borgmeier, 1953: 14.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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