Strumigenys connectens

The paratypes were obtained from an orchid, Cattleya mendeli, that was being imported into the USA.

Identification
A member of the gundlachi complex in the Strumigenys gundlachi group.

Longino (2006) - Intensive collecting at La Selva Biological Station and the Barva Transect has revealed a complex of five closely similar but consistently separable species related to Strumigenys subedentata. Strumigenys subedentata occurs throughout the Neotropics, usually in lowland wet to somewhat seasonal sites, in both mature and second growth forests. It is often collected in samples of litter and rotten wood from the forest floor. Strumigenys trieces occurs on the Atlantic slope of Central America from Nicaragua to Panama, from sea level to 1100 m elevation. It occurs most abundantly in mature wet forest where, like S. subedentata, it inhabits leaf litter and rotten wood on the forest floor. The three new species described here – Strumigenys oconitrilloae, Strumigenys cascanteae, and Strumigenys paniaguae – occur as a graded series of elevational specialists, with S. oconitrilloae occurring at La Selva and the 300 m site on the Barva Transect, S. cascanteae occurring at the 300 m site and at a 600 m site in the nearby Arenal National Park, and S. paniaguae occurring at the 500 m, 1100 m, and 1500 m sites on the Barva Transect. These three all show a tendency to be arboreal, nesting under bark flaps or epiphytes and rarely occurring in samples of litter and rotten wood from the forest floor. A sixth species in this complex, Strumigenys connectens, occurs in Colombia and Ecuador.

Bolton (2000) - Closest related to Strumigenys decipula, Strumigenys trieces and Strumigenys subedentata; see under the last named for discussion.

Distribution
Columbia and Ecuador

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Colombia, Ecuador.

Nomenclature

 *  connectens. Strumigenys connectens Kempf, 1958b: 59, figs. 1-3 (w.) COLOMBIA. Combination in Pyramica: Bolton, 1999: 1673; in Strumigenys: Baroni Urbani & De Andrade, 2007: 117. See also: Bolton, 2000: 181.

Worker
Bolton (2000) - TL 2.5-2.9, HL 0.60-0.65, HW 0.50, CI 81-86, ML 0.33, MI 53-56, SL 0.33, SI 66, AL 0.64-0.73 (measurements after Kempf, 1958a). Characters of gundlachi complex. Inner margins of mandibles strongly convex in full-face view, at full closure touching at about the midlength and diverging both proxi mally and distally. Apex of mandible with 2 intercalary denticles between apicodorsal and apicoventral teeth. Preapical denticles 3 - 4 in number, located in the apical third of the mandible length; apicodorsal tooth followed proximally by a denticle or small tooth, then a second small tooth that varies from about the size of the first to distinctly larger; proximal of this with 1 - 2 denticles. Scape broadening medially but not expanded into a wide lobe, SL about 3.5 times the maximum scape width. Ground-pilosity of head and alitrunk of decumbent curved spatulate hairs. Apicoscrobal hair short. Cephalic dorsum with a single pair of short erect hairs, close to occipital margin. Pronotal humeral hair present. Mesonotal dorsum with a single pair of erect hairs. Head, alitrunk and waist segments reticulate-punctate. First gastral sternite smooth, not reticulate basally. Spongiform lobes of postpetiole small but well developed.

Type Material
Strumigenys connectens Kempf, 1958a: 59, figs. 1 - 3. Holotype worker, COLOMBIA: Cundinamarca Prov., 7 mi. W of Alban, 15.iii.1955 (E.J. Schlinger & E.S. Ross); paratype workers, from COLOMBIA: 8-22-45, SF 19518, 45-16312 (intercepted by U. S. Plant Quarantine, San Francisco, California, 22.viii.1945, on imported orchid Cattleya mendeli) (examined).