Alfaria minuta

A nest was uncovered in a cocoa plantation close to the northcentral Venezuelan coastal town of Ocumare by Dr. Robert Johnson during the 2008 edition of Ant Course. The nest was found under a grapefruit-sized stone with a cusp shaped structure, it consisted of a single chamber dug out from the soil from which 24 workers were collected. Two specimens are deposited in the Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola of the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Maracay, Venezuela, and the rest are in the Arizona State University collection. This observation further reinforces the notion that G. minuta group species are subterranean nesters, in contrast with most members of the genus which prefer to nest in decomposing wood. (Lattke and Delsinne 2016)

Identification
A widespread distribution in South America, but documented with relatively sparse and widely scattered occurrence records.

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Suriname.

Nomenclature

 *  minuta. Alfaria minuta Emery, 1896g: 106 (q.) BOLIVIA.
 * Combination in Gnamptogenys: Brown, 1958g: 228.
 * Status as species: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115; Brown, 1958g: 228, 316; Kempf, 1961b: 492; Lattke, 1992a: 127; Bolton, 1995b: 209; Lattke, et al. 2004: 346; Lattke, et al. 2007: 264 (in key); Lattke, et al. 2008: 93; Lattke & Delsinne, 2016: 142.
 * Senior synonym of carinata, emeryi, mus, panamensis, scabrosus: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115.
 * Senior synonym of pneodonax: Lattke, 1992a: 127.
 * emeryi. Alfaria emeryi Forel, 1901f: 326 (w.) COLOMBIA. Junior synonym of minuta: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115.
 * scabrosus. Opisthoscyphus scabrosus Mann, 1922: 5, figs. 2, 3 (w.) HONDURAS. Junior synonym of minuta: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115. See also: Brown, 1958g: 317.
 * mus. Alfaria mus Santschi, 1931c: 265 (w.) PANAMA. Junior synonym of minuta: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115.
 * carinata. Alfaria carinata Weber, 1940b: 82, fig. 3 (q.) GUYANA. Junior synonym of minuta: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115.
 * panamensis. Alfaria panamensis Weber, 1940b: 80 (w.q.) PANAMA. [Unresolved junior secondary homonym of panamensis Santschi, above.] Junior synonym of minuta: Brown, in Borgmeier, 1957: 115.
 * pneodonax. Gnamptogenys pneodonax Kempf, 1968b: 375, figs. 2, 3 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of minuta: Lattke, 1992a: 127.

References based on Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics

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