Dolichoderus laminatus

Identification
Color black with orange legs; generally devoid of erect setae; mesonotum in dorsal view about as long as wide (rather than wider than long) (Jack Longino).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Suriname, Venezuela.

Biology
MacKay (1993): Nests are found under bark of trees, especially Leuhea sp. and Bombacopsis sp. (Swain, 1977), and are frequently found in arboreal termitaries of Nasutitermes ephratae (Wheeler, 1936; Lattke, 1986; Swain, 1977). They also nest in Cattleya. This species is common along rivers in Costa Rica; one nest had 1000+ workers, 168 males, 28 alate females and one dealate female (Swain, 1977). Colonies may be polydomic (Swain, 1977). Workers are nocturnal and forage in the canopy of the tropical forest. This species is not aggressive and does not have the "tapinoma" odor of many of the other species in the genus.

To this I can add very little. I know the species only from scattered workers, usually in treefalls, from Corcovado National Park, Carara Biological Reserve, and just below Guacimal on the road to Monteverde (Jack Longino).

Nomenclature

 *  laminatus. Hypoclinea laminata Mayr, 1870a: 389, fig. 8 (w.) COLOMBIA. [Also described as new by Mayr, 1870b: 956 (in key).] Forel, 1899c: 99 (q.); Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1951: 177 (l.). Combination in Dolichoderus: Emery, 1890a: 70; in D. (Monacis): Emery, 1894c: 228; in Monacis: Kempf, 1959b: 259; in Dolichoderus: Shattuck, 1992c: 77. Senior synonym of luteiventris: Kempf, 1959b: 259. See also: Mackay, 1993b: 66.
 * luteiventris. Dolichoderus (Monacis) laminatus subsp. luteiventris Emery, 1894c: 232 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of laminatus: Kempf, 1959b: 259.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

 * Adams B. J., S. A. Schnitzer, and S. P. Yanoviak. 2016. Trees as islands: canopy ant species richness increases with the size of liana-free trees in a Neotropical forest. Ecography doi: 10.1111/ecog.02608
 * Adams B. J., S. A. Schnitzer, and S. P. Yanoviak. 2019. Connectivity explains local ant community structure in a Neotropical forest canopy: a large-scale experimental approach. Ecology 100(6): e02673.
 * Basset Y., L. Cizek, P. Cuenoud, R. K. Didham, F. Guilhaumon, O. Missa, V. Novotny, F. Odegaards, T. Roslin, J. Schmidl et al. 2012. Arthropod diversity in a tropical forest. Science 338(6113): 1481-1484.
 * Blüthgen, N., M. Verhaagh, W. Goitia and N. Bluthgen. 2000. Ant nests in tank bromeliads  an example of non-specific interaction. Insectes Sociaux 47:313-316
 * Brandao, C.R.F. 1991. Adendos ao catalogo abreviado das formigas da regiao neotropical (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Rev. Bras. Entomol. 35: 319-412.
 * Emery C. 1913. Hymenoptera. Fam. Formicidae. Subfam. Dolichoderinae. Genera Insectorum 137: 1-50.
 * Fernández, F. and S. Sendoya. 2004. Lista de las hormigas neotropicales. Biota Colombiana Volume 5, Number 1.
 * 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.
 * Kempf W. W. 1959. A revision of the Neotropical ant genus Monacis Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Studia Entomologica (n.s.)2: 225-270.
 * Kempf W. W. 1972. A new species of the dolichoderine ant genus Monacis Roger, from the Amazon, with further remarks on the genus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Revista Brasileira de Biologia 32: 251-254.
 * Kempf, W.W. 1972. Catalago abreviado das formigas da regiao Neotropical (Hym. Formicidae) Studia Entomologica 15(1-4).
 * Mackay, W.P. 1993. A review of the New World ants of the genus Dolichoderus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 22(1):1-148
 * Ortiz C. M., and F. Fernandez. 2011. Hormigas del genero Dolichoderus Lund (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) en Colombia. Bogota: Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Facultad de Ciencias. Instituto de Ciencias Naturalies, 118 pages.
 * 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