Basiceros browni

Virtually nothing is known about the biology of this species. The first collection resulted in four workers; three workers retrieved on July 29, 1978 from a rotten log at the edge of a trail in the middle of a forest. According to Dr. Umphrey, the nest was not found. The last 1978 specimen was collected the following day while foraging about three meters from the place occupied by that rotten log, suggesting it might have been part of the same colony. The paratype collected in Otongachi came from a Winkler sample. (Probst & Brandão, 2022)

Identification
Comparatively medium to large (TL 6.55–7.59 mm); color light brown to dark brown; densely sculptured, rugose to areolar-rugose, procoxae and gaster foveate; petiole tubuliform, without projected node; mandibles triangular, long and pedunculate with twelve teeth on each masticatory margin; clypeomandibular space ample; labrum cuneiform, bilobed apically, lobes separated by a narrow cleft; pilosity consisting of a basal layer of flat and spatulate to subplumose decumbent curved hairs for most of their length, and another layer of long erect and clavate hairs.

Basiceros browni can be separated from other Basiceros species by the combination of a tubuliform petiole, without a projected node; long and pedunculate mandibles with a wide clypeomandibular space; labrum shape (cuneiform, lobes separated by narrow cleft); and general pilosity (long, erect, and clavate hairs).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Ecuador.

Nomenclature

 * . Basiceros browni Probst & Brandão, 2022: 13, figs. 2C, 3, 4, 30 (w.) ECUADOR.

Type Material

 * Holotype worker: ECUADOR: Los Ríos (spelled as “Pichincha”): 47km N from Quevedo, Rio Palenque Research Station, 29.vii.1978, G.J. Umphrey col., N. GJU # 0860 [MCZ].
 * Paratype workers: Same locality, date, and collector as holotype [MCZ, one gold coated worker; GUPC, one worker]; same locality and collector, 30.vii.1978 [NMH, one worker (NHM1014338/CASENT0900941)]; Pichincha: Otongachi, 0°18’49” S 78°57’15” W, 850m, 04.ix.2009, G. Ramón col., KT-1419/LL8-W15 [MZSP, one worker].