1966] 
Gotivald and Brown — Simopelta 
265 
species have been described from Ecuador. Probably we can expect 
to find more species in the Transandean area as well as elsewhere. 
The species have been collected only rarely so far. 
Habits. The observations given after the description of S. oculata 
(below), the circumstance that the queens of two species are dich- 
thadiiform, the peculiar Eciton- like reduction of the worker eye, the 
mandibular form, and certain details of the worker form and sculp- 
ture, all go to indicate that Simopelta is a mass-foraging, probably 
nomadic genus that has evolved far toward the army ant lifeform. 
S. oculata , at least, plunders the nests of other ants ( Pheidole in the 
case observed). The observations for S. oculata and the collection 
figures given by Borgmeier (loc. cit.) suggest that nest populations 
may reach 1,000 or more workers, but probably do not go higher 
than 2,000. The pergandei series from Costa Rica studied by Borg- 
meier contained one fully adult queen and one callow queen, and 
thus may have been on the verge of dividing (swarming). The 
large mass of workers and brood in this collection suggests that, like 
the oculata sample, it was taken in a hollow twig or branch from 
which the colony could be collected at one stroke with little loss of 
inmates. The oculata colony had only one queen. 
The Species of Simopelta 
Simopelta curvata 
Belonopclta curvata Mayr, 1887, Verh. Zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 37: 532, 
worker. Type locality: Santa Catarina State, Brazil. 
A light reddish-brown or yellowish-brown species with a well-de- 
veloped clypeal spine and anteroposteriorly compressed petiolar node. 
Now known to be widespread in Sao Paulo State as well as Santa 
Catarina, and also in the interior of southern Brazil. 
Simopelta pergandei 
Belonopclta pergandei Forel, 1909, Deutsch. Ent. Zeitschr; p. 242, worker. 
Type locality: Guatemala. 
Simopelta pergandei: Wheeler, 1935: 11, fig. 1, worker. Borgmeier, 1950: 
372, fig. 1-12, worker, queen, young larva, pupa. 
Very similar to curvata in general form, size, color and sculpture, 
but mandible with only 3 well-developed teeth. Funicular segments 
also more slender, and there are other small differences in the form 
of the node and in the sculpture. Known from Guatemala and from 
near San Jose in upland Costa Rica. 
