Chonocephalus heymonsi Stobbe 1913

Chonocephalus heymonsi Stobbe

(Figs 62–74)

Chonocephalus heymonsi Stobbe, 1913: 131 (female only).

Chonocephalus similis Collin, 1912: 105, part (one female only) nec Brues, 1905. Misidentification.

Chonocephalus jamaicensis Brues, 1915: 102. Disney, 1981: 207.

Chonocephalus punctifascia Borgmeier, 1935: 257 (both sexes). Prado, 1976: 587.

Chonocephalus vadoni Paulian, 1958: 11. Prado, 1976: 587.

Chonocephalus brisbanensis Beyer, 1960: 85. Disney, 2002: 23.

Chonocephalus digitalis Borgmeier, 1967: 207 (part). Misidentifications.

This species is the ultimate tramp species, having been recorded from every biogeographic region (except the Antarctic), but it was probably originally native to mainland Africa south of the Sahara (Disney, 2005).

Material. I male, Argentina, Salta, Rosario De Lerma, INESALT yard, Malaise trap, 18–28 February 1992, S. A. Marshall (DEBU, 14-55). 1 male, Belize, Punta Gorda, 27 April –7 May 1982, Cpl P. Kelly, leg. R. S. George (CUMZ, 20-45). 4 males, 10 females, Brazil, Amazonia, Manaus, ex old bread fruit (Atrocarous altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg, M. Otronen (CUMZ). 4 males, Colombia, Rio Raposo, May, August, December 1963, February 1964, V. H. Lee (USNM; 1 male, December 1963, V. H. Lee (USNM). 1 male Cuba, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, 8–19 February 1965 (USNM): 1 male, Dominca, B. W. I., Clarke Hall, 1–10 May 1964, O. S. Flint (USNM); 1 male, Parish of St Paul, near Pont Casse trail to Morne Trois Pitons, 15 o 22.8’N, 61 o 20.5’W, humid forest, 750 m, Malaise trap, 16–17 April 2004, M. E. Irwin & B. M. Shephard (CUMZ). 1 male, Ecuador, Prov. Napo, Limoncocha, 280m, 00 o 24’S, 76 o 36’W, with colony of the army ant Eciton hamatum (Fabricius), 9 August 1972, Ruth Chadab (Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, CUMZ, 30-144); and the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) (Disney & Sinclair, in press). 3 males, Nicaragua, 8 mi. S. La. Trinidad, July–August 1961, E. D. Wagner & M. L. Anderson, reared cactus (USNM). 4 females, 2 males, Panama, Canal Zone, 1 October 1919, I. Molmo, on orange (USNM); 1 male, Barro Colorado Island, 24 May 1964 (USNM); 3 males, Bulboa, Ancon Hill, pan trap, 26–29 April 1983, G. Otis (DEBU, 14-62); 1 female, B. C. I., from refuse deposit of the army ant Eciton burchellii (Westwood), 8 April 1955, C. W. Rettenmeyer (Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, CUMZ, 30-64); 1 female, B. C. I., from detritus from tree hole, 1 August 1956, C. W. and M. E. Rettenmeyer (Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, CUMZ, 30-64). 2 males, 2 females, Puerto Rico (USNM); 1 male, 1 female, 1918, T. Kruivshenko, genetics culture (USNM); 2 males, Maricao Fish Hatchery, 23 December 1962, P. P. Spangler (USNM); 3 females, labelled ‘ R. I. Sc. N. B. I. G. 25.934, S. Jacquemart’ (CUMZ). 9 males, Trinidad, St Augustine, July 1994, E. G. Hancock (CUMZ, 4-97). 1 male, U. S. A., Hawaii, Oahu, Waimea, Waimea Park, ex banana leaf litter on ground, 16 December 1978, H. S. Dybas (DEBU, 14-53).

Natural history. The female caught on the edible paddy straw mushroom Volvariella (Plutaceae) was probably ovipositing on an over ripe sporophore; as was the case with the females recorded on rotting Termitomyces (Amanitaceae) on a termite mound. A female from Costa Rica attributed to this species, has been reported from a colony of the termite Coptotermes niger (Brues 1925). The above female reported from a refuse deposit of the army ant Eciton burchellii and the other female from the detritus from a tree hole (Disney & Rettenmeyer, 2007) further suggest that a range of decaying organic materials are exploited by this species.