Dolichoderus bispinosus

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.

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

Biology
Dejain et al. (2018) found this species nesting in Aechmea bracteata, a large tank bromeliad (leaves ca. 1-m-long; inflorescences up to 1.7-m-long). Each plant forms numerous shoots, with each bearing multiple reservoirs within their leaves and a central dry cavity where ants can nest. Other ants were also found, and both the presence of ants and the ant species present was found to be correlated with changes in the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities within the plants' reservoirs. Dolichoderus bispinosus was found in 43 of the 92 plants sampled. The study was carried out in an inundated forest dominated by 10-m-tall Metopium brownei (Anacardiaceae). This forest was located in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico (18.42678 N; 88.80438 W; 120 meters a.s.l).

Nomenclature

 *  bispinosus. Formica bispinosa Olivier, 1792: 502 (w.) FRENCH GUIANA. Roger, 1862a: 236 (q.); Forel, 1908b: 60 (m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1966: 728 (l.). Combination in Hypoclinea: Mayr, 1862: 708; in Monacis: Roger, 1862a: 235; Kempf, 1959b: 240; in Dolichoderus: Emery, 1890a: 69; Dalla Torre, 1893: 158; in D. (Monacis): Emery, 1894c: 228. Senior synonym of arboricola: Emery, 1892b: 167; of fungosa: Latreille, 1802c: 133; of vestita: Emery, 1894c: 232. See also: Kempf, 1959b: 240; Mackay, 1993b: 42; Shattuck, 1994: 44.
 * fungosa. Formica fungosa Fabricius, 1798: 281 (w.) SURINAM. Junior synonym of bispinosus: Latreille, 1802c: 133.
 * vestita. Hypoclinea vestita Mayr, 1862: 707 (q.) ANTILLES. Junior synonym of bispinosus: Emery, 1894c: 232.
 * arboricola. Polyrhachis arboricola Norton, 1868a: 60, fig. 3 (w.) MEXICO (fig. only). [Description by Norton, 1868c: 4.] Junior synonym of bispinosus: Emery, 1892b: 167.