Acanthomyrmex mindanao

Identification
A member of the notabilis group. Minor Workers: Well developed small projecting lobes immediately on each side of medial hair on anterior margin of clypeus, funicular scrobes present. Major Worker: Postpetiole about as wide as long in dorsal view. Dorsum of head with large fovea.

Distribution
This taxon was described from the Philippines (Mindanao). It is also known from Malaysia (Sarawak) and Borneo.

PHILIPPINES: Lanao del Sur, Mindanao, MSU-Marawi (7°59'58.74N, 124°15'41.36E), 776 m, 24.iv.2010, coll. Malik Nagamora Jr., LSD Mindanao State University

Habitat
Tropical forests

Abundance
Uncommon in collections.

Biology
Assumed majors crush seeds and defend the colony. The minors forage for seeds.

Foraging/Diet
Seeds

Colony Attributes
Small colony size, less than 50 workers.

Nesting Biology
Nest in logs on the ground.

Reproduction
Queens present.

Morphology
Majors have very large robust heads.

Castes
Dimorphic ants with short, stocky majors and spiny minors.

Nomenclature

 *  mindanao. Acanthomyrmex mindanao Moffett, 1986c: 82, figs. 39E, 51-56 (s.w.) PHILIPPINES.

Type Material
Holotype 1 minor. Paratypes: 4 minors and 1 major deposited in the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Type Locality Information
Mindanao, Davao Province, east slope of Mt. McKinley, 3,300 feet, lot 33, under bark, 30 August 1946 (F.G. Werner),

Etymology
The specific name is a noun in apposition after the type locality

Additional References
Moffett, M.W. 1986c. Revision of the myrmicine genus Acanthomyrmex. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 151: 55-89. [15.viii.1986.]