Natural History:
Wasmannia auropunctata is a pest ant about which much has been written (e.g., Clark et al. 1982, De Souza et al 1998, Fabres and Brown 1978, Jourdan 1997, Lubin 1984, Ulloa Chac?n and Cherix 1990, Williams 1994). The species is remarkably catholic in its habitat preference. It can be abundant in primary forest or young second growth, wet forest or dry forest, although it is perhaps most abundant in disturbed habitats. It can be an agricultural pest in many parts of the tropics because of its strong sting.
The sting of Wasmannia is worth commenting on. These are extremely tiny ants, barely visible in the field. When I first began studying ants in Costa Rica, for a while I was puzzled about Wasmannia. By literature and reputation Wasmannia was reputed to have a terrible sting, but I had been collecting them for months in Corcovado National Park and never experienced the famous sting. Then one day I was collecting from a populous nest and some workers made it up to the soft skin of my inner forearm and began to sting. The sting was not terrible, about as bad as a fire ant (i.e., Solenopsis geminata) but inordinately strong for an ant you could barely see! I then learned that they are so small they cannot sting through the thicker skin of your hands. I subsequently learned that necks are nice places to get stung. Often when crawling through trashy second growth or Heliconia thickets my neck would start to burn. I would reach around to find the culprit and find nothing there. This was my cue that it was Wasmannia, and often a close inspection would reveal that I had brushed into a nest and workers were scattered on my head and shoulders.
Colonies are polygynous and it is never clear where colony boundaries are. Dozens of dealate queens may be found together in nests. Nests can be almost anywhere: in rolled leaves or dead sticks in the leaf litter, under stones, in rotten wood, in hollow stems suspended above the ground, in ant-plant domatia, and under epiphytes. Workers are omnivorous scavengers and predators and can rapidly recruit to food.
Taxonomic history
[Misspelled as aurata by Menozzi, 1935b PDF: 196.].Wheeler & Wheeler, 1954d PDF: 444 (l.).Combination in Ochetomyrmex: Forel, 1886b PDF: xlix.Combination in Tetramorium (Xiphomyrmex): Forel, 1887 PDF: 384.Combination in Wasmannia: Forel, 1893j PDF: 383.Status as species: Roger, 1863b PDF: 27; Mayr, 1863a PDF: 456; Forel, 1885a PDF: 375; Forel, 1886b PDF: xlix; Mayr, 1887 PDF: 623; Emery, 1890c PDF: 46; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 130; Forel, 1893j PDF: 383; Emery, 1894l PDF: 53; Forel, 1895b PDF: 126, 143; Forel, 1897b PDF: 300; Forel, 1899b PDF: 54; Forel, 1901d PDF: 128; Forel, 1902b PDF: 177; Wheeler, 1905c PDF: 128; Emery, 1906c PDF: 160; Wheeler, 1908a PDF: 143; Wheeler, 1908b PDF: 161; Forel, 1908c PDF: 44; Wheeler, 1911a PDF: 28; Wheeler, 1911b PDF: 170; Forel, 1912h PDF: 1; Wheeler, 1913b PDF: 486; Wheeler, 1913e PDF: 240; Wheeler & Mann, 1914 PDF: 38; Donisthorpe, 1915f: 341; Mann, 1916 PDF: 448; Wheeler, 1916c PDF: 8; Wheeler, 1916f PDF: 324; Wasmann, 1918a PDF: 75; Luederwaldt, 1918 PDF: 40; Wheeler, 1919e: 304; Mann, 1920b PDF: 428; Mann, 1922 PDF: 33; Wheeler, 1922: 912; Wheeler, 1922e PDF: 11; Wheeler, 1923d PDF: 5; Emery, 1924f PDF: 294; Wheeler, 1925a: 36; Stärcke, 1926a PDF: 88 (in key); Borgmeier, 1927c PDF: 111; Donisthorpe, 1927c: 393; Menozzi, 1927c PDF: 268; Menozzi, 1929b PDF: 3; Menozzi & Russo, 1930 PDF: 162; Smith, 1930a PDF: 4; Menozzi, 1931b PDF: 272; Santschi, 1931d PDF: 271; Wheeler, 1932a PDF: 11; Wheeler, 1935g: 32; Eidmann, 1936a PDF: 48; Wheeler, 1936c PDF: 200; Smith, 1937 PDF: 854; Wheeler, 1942 PDF: 207; Brown, 1948d PDF: 102; Weber, 1948b PDF: 82; Creighton, 1950a PDF: 295; Smith, 1951c PDF: 824; Kusnezov, 1952h PDF: 182 (in key); Kusnezov, 1953c PDF: 338; Smith, 1954c PDF: 7; Smith, 1958c PDF: 135; Kempf, 1961b PDF: 512; Kempf, 1964e PDF: 66; Kempf, 1970c PDF: 335; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 257; Alayo, 1974 PDF: 39; Smith, 1979: 1402; Taylor, 1987a PDF: 81; Zolessi et al., 1988: 4; Deyrup et al., 1989 PDF: 97; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 383; Bolton, 1995b: 423; Deyrup et al., 2000: 298; Deyrup, 2003 PDF: 47; Wetterer & Wetterer, 2004 PDF: 215; Coovert, 2005 PDF: 86; Ward, 2005 PDF: 38; Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 276; Wild, 2007b PDF: 38; Vonshak & Ionescu-Hirsch, 2009 PDF: 45; Branstetter & Sáenz, 2012 PDF: 262; Sarnat et al., 2013 PDF: 72; Wetterer, 2013d 10.1163/18749836-06001068 PDF: 173; Borowiec, 2014 PDF: 206; Ramage, 2014 PDF: 174; Bezděčková et al., 2015 PDF: 122; Cuezzo et al., 2015 PDF: 249 (redescription); Wetterer et al., 2016 PDF: 21; Deyrup, 2017: 158; Fernández & Serna, 2019 PDF: 881; Lubertazzi, 2019 10.3099/MCZ-43.1 PDF: 198.Senior synonym of Wasmannia atomum: Wheeler, 1922: 912; Bolton, 1995b: 423; Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 277.Senior synonym of Wasmannia auropunctata australis: Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 276.Senior synonym of Wasmannia glabra: Kempf, 1964e PDF: 66; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 258; Smith, 1979: 1402; Bolton, 1995b: 423; Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 277.Senior synonym of Wasmannia auropunctata laevifrons: Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 276.Senior synonym of Wasmannia auropunctata nigricans: Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 276.Senior synonym of Wasmannia auropunctata obscura: Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 276.Senior synonym of Wasmannia panamana: Brown, 1948d PDF: 102; Smith, 1954c PDF: 7; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 258; Smith, 1979: 1402; Bolton, 1995b: 423; Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 277.Senior synonym of Wasmannia auropunctata pulla: Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 277.Senior synonym of Wasmannia auropunctata rugosa: Longino & Fernández, 2007 PDF: 276.
