Solenopsis pygmaea Forel 1901

Longino, 1 Mar 2014: This is a tiny subterranean species that occurs in a wide range of habitats, from dry forest to rainforest, but usually below 500m elevation. It appears to be relatively common in mineral soil beneath the leaf litter layer, based on its distribution in Berlese versus Winkler samples. At La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica, it is very common in Berlese samples that include a cylindrical core of soil beneath the leaf litter, but less common in Winkler samples of sifted leaf litter, which usually do not contain much mineral soil. My records from elsewhere in the country are all occasional occurrences in Winkler samples. I have one record of workers coming to a bait at La Selva. On the Barva Transect, the species is common at La Selva, but attenuates rapidly with elevation, such that by 500m elevation it is very rare.

Solenopsis pygmaca Forel, 1901j PDF: 345. AntCat AntWiki

Taxonomic history

[Justified emendation of spelling to Solenopsis pygmaea: Forel, 1915c PDF: 354.].Replacement name for Solenopsis exigua Forel, 1893. [Junior secondary homonym of Solenopsis exigua (Buckley, 1867).].Status as species: Emery, 1922c PDF: 200; Kempf, 1961b PDF: 508; Ettershank, 1966 PDF: 143; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 239; Bolton, 1995b: 390; Pacheco & Mackay, 2013 PDF: 282 (redescription); Wetterer et al., 2016 PDF: 18; Lubertazzi, 2019 10.3099/MCZ-43.1 PDF: 174.