This species is a dramatically large ant which I occasionally see as individual workers on roads and trails. I have one nest observation from Cerro Cacao in the Guanacaste Conservation Area:
At the bottom of the forest patch below the station, along the trail back to Quebrada Grande, I observed a nest in the steep bank of the trail. A purpurascens worker captured a Gnamptogenys worker from a nest I was excavating. The purpurascens worker moved irregularly back and forth at first, but then went to a simple circular hole in the bank. I followed the hole, excavating horizontally into the bank, until I was a full arm's length plus trowel length into the bank. At this point I began scooping out a few workers at a time. I obtained about 16 workers this way, but then had to stop.
Pachycondyla purpurascens Forel 1899:12. Syntype worker: Costa Rica, Cache [MHNG] (examined). Proposed revised status.
Pachycondyla fuscoatra subsp. purpurascens Forel: Emery 1901:48.
Pachycondyla impressa (Roger) (part): Kempf (1961), Bolton (1995).
Emery (1901, 1911) considered transversa and purpurascens to be distinct species in Costa Rica. Kempf (1961) synonymized transversa under impressa, but his treatment of purpurascens was ambiguous. He placed it in the list of synonymy beneath impressa, but he listed it as "? Pachycondyla purpurascens," and did not follow it with "NOV. SYN." Other names in the list were followed by "NOV. SYN." In his discussion of synonyms, he stated that he exempted purpurascens from formal synonymy because of its larger than normal size, and that further study was warranted. He did not examine any material of purpurascens, relying on published records. Bolton (1995) listed purpurascens as a synonym of impressa, attributing the synonymy to Kempf (1961). I follow Emery in considering purpurascens a distinct species, and propose a revived status to full and valid species.
Costa Rica, Panama. Costa Rica: known from mid to upper elevation sites from Cordillera de Guanacaste to Cordillera Volcanica Central; also known from Bocas del Toro region of Panama, so probably continuous in montane sites throughout the country.
Taxonomic history
MacKay & MacKay, 2010 PDF: 491 (q.).Subspecies of Pachycondyla fuscoatra: Emery, 1901b PDF: 45.Junior synonym of Pachycondyla impressa: Kempf, 1961e PDF: 195.Revived from synonymy: MacKay & MacKay, 2010 PDF: 489.
