Gnamptogenys horni

In order to examine social behavior in the little-studied ponerine ant genus Gnamptogenys, detailed observations were made on captive colonies of G. horni. Compilation of a behavioral repertory gave evidence of age-based division of labor, with old ants more likely to forage and young ants more likely to tend brood. Workers were observed to line the walls of their nests with pieces of old cocoons, a behavior referred to as wallpapering and previously known from only one other ant species. Evidence was obtained for the use of trail recruitment pheromones in foraging and in nest-moving. Examination of prey remains in natural nests indicated that G. horni feeds principally on a wide variety of ants, but also on other arthropods. (Pratt 1994)

Identification
A member of the regularis complex (in the regularis subgroup of the mordax species group). Subtriangular mandibles; dorsum of petiolar node with posteromedian longitudinal costulae, transversely arched anteriorly; episternal costulate curve on to declivitous propodeal face. Body dark brown; legs and antennae ferruginous. (Lattke 1995)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

Nomenclature

 * . Ectatomma (Gnamptogenys) regulare st. horni Santschi, 1929h: 475, fig. 47 (w.) GUYANA.
 * Type-material: 4 syntype workers.
 * Type-locality: Guyana (“Guyane anglaise”): Kurupung (H.O. Lang).
 * Type-depository: NHMB.
 * [Note: this species was founded on 4 syntype workers, all recorded as present in NHMB by Baroni Urbani, 1973b: 131; the specimen recorded in MCZC by Lattke, 1995: 148, is part of this series.]
 * Combination in Gnamptogenys: Brown, 1958g: 218, 228; Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 11.
 * Status as species: Brown, 1958g: 228, 316; Kempf, 1961b: 491; Kempf, 1972a: 113; Lattke, 1990b: 14; Brandão, 1991: 345; Bolton, 1995b: 209; Lattke, 1995: 170; Lattke, et al. 2004: 346; Lattke, et al. 2007: 260 (in key); Lattke, et al. 2008: 90; Bezděčková, et al. 2015: 111; Feitosa, 2015c: 98; Feitosa & Prada-Achiardi, 2019: 672; Camacho, et al. 2020: 458 (in key); Camacho, Franco, Branstetter, et al. 2022: 11.
 * Distribution: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, Venezuela.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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 * Bezdeckova K., P. Bedecka, and I. Machar. 2015. A checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Peru. Zootaxa 4020 (1): 101–133.
 * 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.
 * Delabie J. H. C., R. Céréghino, S. Groc, A. Dejean, M. Gibernau, B. Corbara, and A. Dejean. 2009. Ants as biological indicators of Wayana Amerindian land use in French Guiana. Comptes Rendus Biologies 332(7): 673-684.
 * Delabie J. H. C., S. Lacau, I. C. do Nascimento, A. B. Casimiro, and I. M. Cazorla. 1997. Communaute des fourmis de souches d'arbres morts dans trois reserves de la foret atlantique bresilienne (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Ecologia Austral7: 95-103.
 * Fernandes I., and J. de Souza. 2018. Dataset of long-term monitoring of ground-dwelling ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the influence areas of a hydroelectric power plant on the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin. Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e24375.
 * Fernández F., and E. E. Palacio. 1995. Hormigas de Colombia IV: nuevos registros de géneros y especies. Caldasia 17: 587-596.
 * Fernández F., and T. M. Arias-Penna. 2008. Las hormigas cazadoras en la región Neotropical. Pp. 3-39 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.
 * 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.
 * Groc S., J. Orivel, A. Dejean, J. Martin, M. Etienne, B. Corbara, and J. H. C. Delabie. 2009. Baseline study of the leaf-litter ant fauna in a French Guianese forest. Insect Conservation and Diversity 2: 183-193.
 * Kaspari M. 1996. Litter ant patchiness at the 1-m 2 scale: disturbance dynamics in three Neotropical forests. Oecologia 107: 265-273.
 * Kempf W. W. 1961. A survey of the ants of the soil fauna in Surinam (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Studia Entomologica 4: 481-524.
 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * Kusnezov N. 1978. Hormigas argentinas: clave para su identificación. Miscelánea. Instituto Miguel Lillo 61:1-147 + 28 pl.
 * Lattke J. E. 1995. Revision of the ant genus Gnamptogenys in the New World (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 4: 137-193
 * Lattke J. E., F. Fernández, E. E. Palacio. 2004. Una nueva especie de Gnamptogenys (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) y comentarios sobre las especies del género en Colombia y Ecuador. Iheringia. Série Zoologia 94: 341-349.
 * Lattke J. E., F. Fernández, T. M. Arias-Penna, E. E. Palacio, W. Mackay, and E. MacKay. 2008. Género Gnamptogenys Roger. Pp. 66-100 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.
 * Lattke, J. E. 1990b. Revisión del género Gnamptogenys Roger en Venezuela (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Acta Terramaris 2: 1-47
 * Levings S. C. 1983. Seasonal, annual, and among-site variation in the ground ant community of a deciduous tropical forest: some causes of patchy species distributions. Ecological Monographs 53(4): 435-455.
 * Lopes M. C., G. P. A. Lamarre, C. Baraloto, P. V. A. Fine, A. Vincentini, and F. B. Baccaro. 2019. The Amazonas-trap: a new method for sampling plant-inhabiting arthropod communities in tropical forest understory. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.12797
 * Nettel-Hernanz A., J. P. Lachaud, D. Fresneau, R. A. Lopez-Munoz, and C. Poteaux. 2015. Biogeography, cryptic diversity, and queen dimorphism evolution of the Neotropical ant genusEctatommaSmith, 1958 (Formicidae, Ectatomminae). Org Divers Evol DOI 10.1007/s13127-015-0215-9
 * Pereira Souza J. L., F. Beggiato Baccaro, V. Lemes Landeiro, E. Franklin, W. E. Magnusson, P. Aurelio, C. Lima Pequeno, and I. Oliveira Fernandes. 2015. Taxonomic sufficiency and indicator taxa reduce sampling costs and increase monitoring effectiveness for ants. Diversity and Distributions 1-12. DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12371
 * Pires de Prado L., R. M. Feitosa, S. Pinzon Triana, J. A. Munoz Gutierrez, G. X. Rousseau, R. Alves Silva, G. M. Siqueira, C. L. Caldas dos Santos, F. Veras Silva, T. Sanches Ranzani da Silva, A. Casadei-Ferreira, R. Rosa da Silva, and J. Andrade-Silva. 2019. An overview of the ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the state of Maranhao, Brazil. Pap. Avulsos Zool. 59: e20195938.
 * Santschi F. 1937. Fourmis du Japon et de Formose. Bulletin et Annales de la Société Entomologique de Belgique. 77: 361-388.
 * Silva R.R., and C. R. F. Brandao. 2014. Ecosystem-Wide Morphological Structure of Leaf-Litter Ant Communities along a Tropical Latitudinal Gradient. PLoSONE 9(3): e93049. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093049
 * Sobrinho T., J. H. Schoereder, C. F. Sperber, and M. S. Madureira. 2003. Does fragmentation alter species composition in ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)? Sociobiology 42(2): 329-342.
 * Vasconcelos H. L., J. M. S. Vilhena, W. E. Magnusson, and A. L. K. M. Albernaz. 2006. Long-term effects of forest fragmentation on Amazonian ant communities. Journal of Biogeography 33: 1348-1356.
 * Vasconcelos, H.L., J.M.S. Vilhena, W.E. Magnusson and A.L.K.M. Albernaz. 2006. Long-term effects of forest fragmentation on Amazonian ant communities. Journal of Biogeography 33:1348-1356