Overview

  Dolichoderus thoracicus is a brown to blackish brown species most easily recognized by the deep and broad concavity on the mesosomal dorsum separating the propodeum from the mesonotum, the strongly convex propodeum which forms a blunt posteriorly projecting protrusion, and the strongly concave propodeal declivity. The type specimen of the species was collected by the great naturalist Alfred Wallace from Sulawesi. Dolichoderus thoracicus is native to Southeast Asia, where, despite its use as a biological control agent, little is known about its basic biology. The species is capable of nesting opportunistically both in leaf litter on the ground and arboreally between leaves and fronds (Way & Khoo, 1991). Maschwitz et al. (1991)reported an undetermined species assigned to the ‘D. thoracicus group’ as the first Dolichoderine known to produce silk nests.