Poneracantha mecotyle

Millipede feeder captured in litter samples from wet forest. Some specimens found in stomach contents of Dendrobates histronicus.

Identification
A member of the rastrata complex (in the rastrata subgroup of the rastrata species group). Promesonotal suture and metanotal groove impressed but not breaking sculpture; propodeal spiracle opening large and round, right behind teeth; me tacoxal teeth long and sharp; occipital carinae wide and visible in frontal view; anterior clypeal lamella laterally rounded and anteriorly straight to very broadly convex. The cephalic sculpture can vary from evenly costulate to roughly rugose and the petiole length vs. width is also variable. (Lattke 1995)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala.

Nomenclature

 * . Gnamptogenys mecotyle Brown, 1958g: 318, fig. 42 (w.) BOLIVIA.
 * Type-material: holotype worker, 4 paratype workers.
 * Type-locality: holotype Bolivia: lower Rio Madidi, ii.1922 (W.M. Mann); paratypes: 4 workers with same data.
 * Type-depositories: USNM (holotype); MCZC, MZSP, USNM (paratypes).
 * Combination in Poneracantha: Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 11.
 * Status as species: Kempf, 1968b: 377; Kempf, 1972a: 113; Bolton, 1995b: 209; Lattke, 1995: 175; Lattke, et al. 2004: 346; Lattke, et al. 2007: 263 (in key); Lattke, et al. 2008: 92; Branstetter & Sáenz, 2012: 255; Feitosa, 2015c: 98; Feitosa & Prada-Achiardi, 2019: 672; Camacho, et al. 2020: 461 (in key); Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 11.
 * Distribution: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Achury R., and A.V. Suarez. 2017. Richness and composition of ground-dwelling ants in tropical rainforest and surrounding landscapes in the Colombian Inter-Andean valley. Neotropical Entomology https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-017-0565-4
 * Arias-Penna T. M. 2008. Subfamilia Ectatomminae. Pp. 53-107 in: Jiménez, E.; Fernández, F.; Arias, T.M.; Lozano-Zambrano, F. H. (eds.) 2008. Sistemática, biogeografía y conservación de las hormigas cazadoras de Colombia. Bogotá: Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, xiv + 609 pp.
 * Branstetter M. G. and L. Sáenz. 2012. Las hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Guatemala. Pp. 221-268 in: Cano E. B. and J. C. Schuster. (eds.) 2012. Biodiversidad de Guatemala. Volumen 2. Guatemala: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, iv + 328 pp
 * Brown W. L., Jr. 1958. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. II. Tribe Ectatommini (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 118: 173-362.
 * Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
 * Fichaux M., B. Bechade, J. Donald, A. Weyna, J. H. C. Delabie, J. Murienne, C. Baraloto, and J. Orivel. 2019. Habitats shape taxonomic and functional composition of Neotropical ant assemblages. Oecologia 189(2): 501-513.
 * 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.
 * Groc S., J. H. C. Delabie, F. Fernandez, F. Petitclerc, B. Corbara, M. Leponce, R. Cereghino, and A. Dejean. 2017. Litter-dwelling ants as bioindicators to gauge the sustainability of small arboreal monocultures embedded in the Amazonian rainforest. Ecological Indicators 82: 43-49.
 * Groc S., J. H. C. Delabie, F. Fernandez, M. Leponce, J. Orivel, R. Silvestre, Heraldo L. Vasconcelos, and A. Dejean. 2013. Leaf-litter ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a pristine Guianese rainforest: stable functional structure versus high species turnover. Myrmecological News 19: 43-51.
 * INBio Collection (via Gbif)
 * Kempf W. W. 1968. Miscellaneous studies on Neotropical ants. IV. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Studia Entomologica 11: 369-415.
 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * Lattke J. E. 1995. Revision of the ant genus Gnamptogenys in the New World (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 4: 137-193
 * Longino J. T. 2013. Ants of Nicargua. Consulted on 18 Jan 2013. https://sites.google.com/site/longinollama/reports/ants-of-nicaragua
 * Longino J. T. L., and M. G. Branstetter. 2018. The truncated bell: an enigmatic but pervasive elevational diversity pattern in Middle American ants. Ecography 41: 1-12.
 * Longino J. et al. ADMAC project. Accessed on March 24th 2017 at https://sites.google.com/site/admacsite/
 * Scott-Santos, C.P., F.A. Esteves, C.R.F. Brandao. 2008. Catalogue of "Poneromorph" ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia 48(11):75-88.