Procryptocerus scabriusculus

Gillette et al. (2015) in a Chaipas, Mexico field study of twig-nesting ants in coffee plants found P. scabriusculus occurred in 11% of the twigs with nests. All of its nests were between 750-1450 m. The relative abundance of Pseudomyrmex ejectus increased and P. scabriusculus decreased with an increasing number of available hollow twigs. Based on observations of competition for artificial nest sites in the lab, P. scabriusculus is a poor competitor, losing ~60 percent of competitive encounters for access to nests (S. Philpott, unpubl. data). In sites with more hollow twigs, both number of twig-nesting ants and species richness increases, and P. scabriusculus may be eliminated from twigs by more aggressive ants in these sites.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela.

Nomenclature

 *  scabriusculus. Procryptocerus striatus r. scabriusculus Forel, 1899c: 45 (w.) COSTA RICA. [First available use of Procryptocerus striatus subsp. schmalzi var. scabriusculus Emery, 1894c: 198; unavailable name.] Kempf, 1951: 91 (q.); Snelling, R.R. 1968a: 2 (m.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1973b: 82 (l.). Raised to species: Kempf, 1951: 89. See also: Longino & Snelling, 2002: 26.