Strumigenys eggersi (Emery, 1890)

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 : 33

Strumigenys eggersi (Emery, 1890)

Egger's Pygmy Snapping Ant ( DEYRUP et al., 2000)

(AntWeb: CASENT0625428, CASENT 0625429). ( Map 32 )

A neotropical species found throughout Central and northern South America, numerous in the Caribbean islands and in Florida, U.S.A. ( KEMPF, 1972; BOLTON et al., 2006). This introduced ant was collected for the first time in 2011 and is known only from the Humid Zone of Santa Cruz Island ( HERRERA et al., 2014). The record in the Galápagos Islands of S. eggersi in crops of M. paradisiaca is the first for an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean ( HERRERA et al., 2014). Little is known about its ecology in Galápagos. In other parts of the world, Strumigenys eggersi is an important predator of Collembola fauna and can be abundant in secondary forests or seasonally dry habitats. Records of S. eggersi in other localities originate from leaf litter, compost heaps, rotten twigs, gardens, coffee plantations and low epiphytes in second–growth forests ( WEBER, 1952; BROWN, 1962; MCGLYNN, 1999; LATTKE & GOITÍA, 1997; DEYRUP et al., 2000). It is known to nest in leaf litter, hollow twigs, or nuts within the litter ( DEYRUP et al., 2000). It is also reported from the mainland of Ecuador in the Orellana province in the Amazon region ( MERTL et al., 2012).

Figures

Map 32. Distribution of Strumigenys eggersi (Emery, 1890).