Cyphomyrmex rimosus Spinola, 1851

Herrera Léon Baert Wouter Dekoninck, Henri W., Causton, Charlotte E., Sevilla, Christian R., Pozo, Paola & Hendrickx, Frederik, 2020, Distribution and habitat preferences of Galápagos ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 93, pp. 1-60 : 21

Cyphomyrmex rimosus Spinola, 1851

Larger Little Fungus Ant ( DEYRUP et al., 2000)

(ANTWEB: CASENT0173243, CASENT0173246).

Light morph ( Map 19a ) and dark morph ( Map 19b )

Widespread from southern U.S.A. to northern Argentina ( SNELLING & LONGINO, 1992; BOLTON et al., 2006; HERRERA & LONGINO, 2008). C. rimosus is thought to have been introduced by humans to Galapagos. It was reported for the first time on Santa Cruz Island in 2008 ( HERRERA & LONGINO, 2008). Since then it has been recorded on five islands. It nests under rocks and bark of rotten trunks ( S. pedunculata ). It is common in the humid areas (landfills, stone and sand quarries) as well as in the Transition Zone, being almost completely absent in the Littoral and Dry Zone. HERRERA & LONGINO (2008) distinguish a light and a dark form of C. rimosus in Galápagos and they refer to them as sympatric forms as occurs in Florida, where a native form ( C. minutus ) is sympatric with an introduced form, the darker C. rimosus fuscus from southern South America.

On Santa Cruz Island, C. rimosus is a common inhabitant of forests of S. pedunculata , C. odorata in the Humid Zone and is also found in the lower part of the Miconia zone. In cultivated areas it is reported in crops of A. comosus , B. oleracea var. italica , M. paradisiaca , M. esculenta , C. annuum , P. vulgaris , Z. mays , C. arabica , B. oleracea var. capitata and P. guajava . It has been recorded in disturbed areas of inhabited islands such as in landfills, and stone and sand quarries. In urban areas the species is present in gardens, where workers can build nests and cultivate fungus under rocks or between sidewalk borders, especially in small humid areas covered with grass and ornamental plants. C. rimosus profits from flowers, fruits, nectar and sap which it uses as substrates for growing fungi ( LEAL & OLIVEIRA, 2000). In the highlands of Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal and Isabela Islands, C. rimosus inhabits areas that are invaded by W. auropunctata , where it seems to be tolerant of the little fire ant. This behavior was also observed by GRAINER et al. (2017) in French Guyana.

Figures

Map 19a. Distribution of Cyphomyrmex rimosus Spinola, 1851. (Ligth morph).