ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR OF 
THE ANT BELONOPELTA DELETRIX MANN 
(HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) 
By Edward 0. Wilson 
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University 
Belonopelta Mayr is a little-known genus of ponerine 
ants represented by two species, B. attenuata Mayr of 
Colombia and B. cleletrix Mann, the latter hitherto re- 
corded from Honduras and Chiapas (Wheeler, 1935; 
Brown, 1950). It is of more than usual interest because 
of the aberrant, presumably raptorial modification of the 
mandibles. To the present time only several specimens 
have been mentioned in the literature, and nothing has 
been recorded concerning its biology. 
B. deletrix was recently encountered by the present 
author near the village of Pueblo Nuevo, Veracruz, in 
the Cosolapa Valley ten miles south of Cosolapa. This 
record represents a considerable northwestward extension 
of the range of the genus. The Cosolapa Valley, like most 
of this part of Mexico, is under heavy cultivation, and 
the native forest is limited to precarious sanctuaries on 
the steep slopes of numerous hills and mountains which 
rise from the valley floor. Pueblo Nuevo is located in the 
saddle of a pass through one of the lower hill ranges. To 
the northwest, and across the nearby Cosolapa River, there 
is a large tract of true rainforest, i.e., a forest in which 
the trees are several-storied, with a few “emergents” 
over 100 feet in height, and heavily festooned in the up- 
per reaches by lianas and epiphytes. The upper stratum 
forms a closed canopy in the undisturbed portions, and 
herbaceous undergrowth is very sparse. The forest is 
being continuously high-graded by crude native lumber- 
ing methods, and as a result clearings and patches of 
scrubby second growth occur throughout. The prevalent 
ant genera in the leaf litter and soil, as indicated by re- 
peated Berlese funnel samples, are Wasmannia, Solenopsis 
(Diplorhoptrum ) , Pheidole, Prionopelta, Pyramicus, Neo- 
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